Science News Roundup: SpaceX Starship SN11 rocket fails to land safely after test launch in Texas; Seats filled for first all-civilian spaceflight crew and more

"We're going to have to find out from the team what happened." Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine safe, effective in adolescents; arthritis drug may reduce effect of some vaccines 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.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Seats filled for first all-civilian spaceflight crew

A college science professor and an aerospace data analyst were named on Tuesday to round out a four-member crew for a SpaceX launch into orbit planned later this year billed as the first all-civilian spaceflight in history. The two latest citizen astronauts were introduced at a news briefing livestreamed from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida by SpaceX human spaceflight chief Benji Reed and billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who conceived the mission in part as a charity drive.

SpaceX Starship SN11 rocket fails to land safely after test launch in Texas: SpaceX

An uncrewed SpaceX Starship prototype rocket failed to land safely on Tuesday after a test launch from Boca Chica, Texas, and engineers were investigating, SpaceX said. "We do appear to have lost all the data from the vehicle," SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said in a webcast video of the rocket's flight test. "We're going to have to find out from the team what happened."

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine safe, effective in adolescents; arthritis drug may reduce effect of some vaccines

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.

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine safe, effective in adolescents Carnivorous dinosaur with short snout and strong bite menaced Patagonia

Scientists in Argentina have unearthed the well-preserved skull of a meat-eating dinosaur that roamed northern Patagonia about 85 million years ago - a beast with a short snout, keen hearing and stout bite strength that made it a daunting predator. The dinosaur, named Llukalkan aliocranianus, measured roughly 16 feet (5 meters) long and was a member of a carnivorous group called abelisaurids that prospered in South America and other parts of Earth's Southern Hemisphere during the Cretaceous Period, researchers said on Tuesday.

Graffiti or homage? Hi-tech imaging sheds light on Holy Sepulchre wall crosses

Crosses etched in mysterious abundance across the walls of Christianity's most sacred church were long assumed to be graffiti, but they may be the work of mediaeval masons paid to carve them by pilgrims, research suggests. Revered in Christian tradition as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial, Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre usually bustles with worshippers and clergy. That has made study of the sacred markings difficult.

SpaceX Starship SN11 rocket fails to land safely after test launch in Texas -SpaceX

An uncrewed SpaceX Starship prototype rocket failed to land safely on Tuesday after a test launch from Boca Chica, Texas, and engineers were investigating, SpaceX said. "We do appear to have lost all the data from the vehicle," SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said in a webcast video of the rocket's flight test. "We're going to have to find out from the team what happened."

(With inputs from agencies.)