Science News Roundup: Steroids cut COVID death risk; Long neglected after landmark discovery and more

Steroids reduce death risk from severe COVID-19 Long neglected after landmark discovery, armored dinosaur finally gets its due When the bones of the early armored dinosaur Scelidosaurus were unearthed in 1858 in west Dorset, England, they comprised the first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Steroids cut COVID-19 death risk; hepatitis C drugs may help fight the coronavirus

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Steroids reduce death risk from severe COVID-19.

Long neglected after landmark discovery, armored dinosaur finally gets its due

When the bones of the early armored dinosaur Scelidosaurus were unearthed in 1858 in west Dorset, England, they comprised the first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified. But aside from cursory papers by pioneering British paleontologist Richard Owen in 1861 and 1863 that incompletely described its anatomy, Scelidosaurus was long neglected despite the landmark nature of its discovery.

Scientists see downsides to top COVID-19 vaccines from Russia, China

High-profile COVID-19 vaccines developed in Russia and China share a potential shortcoming: They are based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to, potentially limiting their effectiveness, some experts say. CanSino Biologics' vaccine, approved for military use in China, is a modified form of adenovirus type 5, or Ad5. The company is in talks to get emergency approval in several countries before completing large-scale trials, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.