Elongated eels
A two-year forensic trawl of Loch Ness in Scotland has concluded that its most famous resident may be a large eel.
Researchers from New Zealand鈥檚 University of Otago sifted DNA samples from the loch to see what sorts of creatures were hiding in its depths. The analysis found nothing to suggest the presence of any of the usual Nessie suspects, which in recent years have included plesiosaurs, whales and even large fish such as sturgeon or catfish.
There was, however, plenty of eel DNA. 鈥淥ur data doesn鈥檛 reveal their size,鈥� said researcher Neil Gemmell, 鈥渂ut the sheer quantity of the material says that we can鈥檛 discount the possibility that there may be giant eels in Loch Ness.鈥�
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Alternatively, perhaps lots of regular-sized eels are slithering around in a giant eel costume, terrorising the occasional visitor and enchanting the local tourist board.
Lost at sea
More submarine mysteries, this time in the Baltic Sea. Researchers from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany, are scratching their heads after their underwater monitoring station vanished overnight. The seabed observatory at Eckernf枚rde Bay, in place since 2016, stopped transmitting data on 21 August. When divers arrived at the scene, they found nothing but a shredded cable that once fed power to the station.
The that the area is off-limits to fishing boats. Yet experts said the 770-kilogram observatory was too heavy to be moved by storms, tides or large animals (or, presumably, lots of little animals wearing a large animal costume). In a statement, GEOMAR researcher Hermann Bange asked beachcombers to report anything suspicious washing up on shore. Though with 拢270,000 of equipment at stake, Feedback thinks the local pawn shop might also be worth a visit.
Mind your mouths
The sea monster head count is rising. Last month, conservationists working on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina reported the discovery of a two-headed loggerhead turtle hatchling. Meanwhile, Fox News showed a picture of a two-mouthed fish reeled in by angler Debbie Geddes in upstate New York.
That鈥檚 not all: in New Jersey last month, a two-headed timber rattlesnake christened was recovered by conservationists, while another two-headed serpent was spotted in .
What鈥檚 going on? Hypotheses, speculation and glowing anti-nuclear screeds to the usual address please.
Bottle rockets
All Jedi warriors are advised to put thermal detonators in their checked luggage before passing through airport security.
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) previously stated that the existing ban on 鈥渞eplica and inert explosives鈥� included souvenir soda bottles from Disney鈥檚 Star Wars: Galaxy鈥檚 Edge theme parks, which are designed to resemble the fictional firecrackers.
But millions of voices cried out in protest, and feeling this great disturbance in the force, the TSA has taken the offending bottles off the no-fly list. The grenade-shaped plastic containers can even be taken in hand luggage 鈥� so long as the syrupy contents are emptied out first. Allowing liquids to be taken on flights? Now that really would be dangerous.
Jersey justice
A Waitrose supermarket in St Helier, Jersey, has faced criticism for including a charity that raises money for alternative cancer treatments in a fundraising initiative.
Local shopper Anne F spied an in-store charity box raising money for 鈥渘on-toxic cancer treatments as an alternative to chemotherapy and radiotherapy鈥�. This money would be used to create a repository of alternative cancer treatment books 鈥渢hat the Jersey Library don鈥檛 have at present and are not willing to stock鈥�, as well as paying for patients鈥� treatments 鈥渘ot covered by their medical insurance鈥�.
As the saying goes, if it looks like a quack and it quacks like a quack, then it鈥檚 probably a quack. After a Twitter outcry, Waitrose head office sprang into action, telling Anne the proposal was 鈥渄one in error鈥� and 鈥渨e will not be supporting this charity鈥�. It seems shoppers in Jersey will have to settle for scientifically verified treatments for now.
Naming names
Feedback is relieved to find the spirit of nominative determinism is alive and well among the 麻豆传媒 readership. Still. John Hawkins writes that in our article on happiness 鈥渋t is delightful to note that the author of a paper titled 鈥楶ositive Psychology鈥� is Martin Seligman鈥� (31 August, p 30). The name means 鈥淏lessed Man鈥� in German.
Meanwhile, Jack Haley notes that at the University of Florida Transportation Institute, a group examining the structural integrity of supra-aquatic transportation pathways is led by Jennifer Bridge.