Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, scientists were trying to get a grip on Lassa fever
In 1970, scientists were on the trail of a deadly new virus. Fifty years later, a vaccine is just now being tested in people.
- Health & Medicine
People who didn’t know they had COVID-19 drove its spread in China
A new study suggests that mild cases, in which people have no symptoms or don’t get sick enough to go to a doctor, are fueling the coronavirus pandemic.
- Archaeology
This is one of the largest Ice Age structures made of mammoth bones
A massive ring of mammoth bones, built by hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age, offers a peek at life 25,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Coronavirus is most contagious before and during the first week of symptoms
As major efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic go into effect around the globe, researchers are figuring out just when patients are most contagious.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
