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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    A trick from cancer cells helps rats accept transplanted limbs

    Rats that received microparticles that release a chemical signal to recruit immune cells tolerated hind limb transplants for more than 200 days.

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  2. Archaeology

    An ancient ball court sheds light on a game made famous by the Aztecs

    A 3,400-year-old ball court in the southern mountains of Mexico suggests many societies contributed to the development of an ancient, well-known Mesoamerican ball game.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Social distancing, not travel bans, is crucial to limiting coronavirus’ spread

    Everything from waving hello instead of shaking hands to cancelling large gatherings of people will help slow the spread of COVID-19.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Cruise ship outbreak helps pin down how deadly the new coronavirus is

    Infections and deaths on the Diamond Princess suggest that, in the real world, 0.5 percent of COVID-19 infections in China end in death.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    What WHO calling the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic means

    The world’s top global health organization is asking countries to double down on efforts to both contain the virus and mitigate its impact.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Repurposed drugs may help scientists fight the new coronavirus

    Work on similar viruses is giving researchers clues on how to begin developing drugs against the new disease.

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  7. Anthropology

    An ancient social safety net in Africa was built on beads

    A Stone Age network of communities across southern Africans was established using ostrich shell beads by around 33,000 years ago.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    What you need to know about coronavirus testing in the U.S.

    Testing for the new coronavirus is still limited but could ramp up soon, thanks in part to tests developed by state laboratories and companies.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Travel bans have barely slowed the coronavirus’s spread

    Travel restrictions in Wuhan and greater China have only modestly impacted the spread of the virus to other countries, researchers say.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    A dog in Hong Kong has a low-level infection of the new coronavirus

    There’s currently no evidence that pets can actually get sick from the virus or pass it to people or other animals.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Immune cells in the gut may play a big role in peanut allergies

    A study finds loads of allergy-inducing cells in the stomachs and intestines of adults allergic to peanuts, but few in people without the condition.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    A more convenient, monthly treatment for HIV cleared a key hurdle

    Two phase III clinical trials suggest that a once-a-month injection of antiretroviral drugs treats HIV just as well as daily pill regimes.

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