News at a glance: Long Covid trials, fossil controversy, and an ancient necklace restored

PALEONTOLOGY Call for fossil’s return to Brazil Paleontologists from Brazil and Europe have published an open letter asking the German state of Baden-Württemberg to return a fossil of the dinosaur Irritator challengeri (illustration above) to Brazil. The remnant of the spinosaurid’s skull was discovered in Brazil and purchased from a fossil digger by the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in 1991; researchers used it to describe the species in a 1996 paper. But the authors of the open letter question the legality of the export to Germany, pointing to a 1942 Brazilian law saying any fossils found in the country belong to that nation, and a 1990 decree that forbids the permanent export of fossils. The plea for repatriation comes weeks after Baden-Württemberg returned another key fossil , that of the dinosaur Ubirajara jubatus , to a museum in Santana do Cariri in Brazil. The German state’s collections include hundreds of Brazilian fossils, the researchers say, and they hope all will be repatriated. MEDICINE New Long Covid clinical trials The National Institutes of Health (NIH) this week announced clinical trials to test treatments against Long Covid , including drugs and other strategies targeting symptoms such as brain fog, rapid heart rate, and sleep troubles. Most trials will enroll 100 to 300 people with Long Covid and begin this year. Neurologic i...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research