21 September 2019 | New Scientist | 53The back pages Feedback
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’s
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. “Our data doesn’t reveal their
size,” said researcher Neil Gemmell,
“but the sheer quantity of the
material says that we can’t discount
the possibility that there may be
giant eels in Loch Ness.”
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 Eckernförde 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 BBC reports 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
£270,000 of equipment at stake,
Feedback thinks the local pawn
shop might also be worth a visit.
an alternative to chemotherapy and
radiotherapy”. This money would
be used to create a repository of
alternative cancer treatment books
“that the Jersey Library don’t have
at present and are not willing to
stock”, as well as paying for
patients’ treatments “not covered
by their medical insurance”.
As the saying goes, if it looks like
a quack and it quacks like a quack,
then it’s probably a quack. After a
Twitter outcry, Waitrose head office
sprang into action, telling Anne the
proposal was “done in error” and
“we will not be supporting this
charity”. 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 New
Scientist readership. Still. John
Hawkins writes that in our article
on happiness “it is delightful to
note that the author of a paper
titled ‘Positive Psychology’ is
Martin Seligman” (31 August, p 30).
The name means “Blessed Man”
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.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’s not all: in New Jersey
last month, a two-headed timber
rattlesnake christened Double Dave
was recovered by conservationists,
while another two-headed serpent
was spotted in Bali.
What’s 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
“replica and inert explosives”
included souvenir soda bottles
from Disney’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s
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 – 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 “non-toxic cancer treatments asGot a story for Feedback?
Send it to New Scientist, 25 Bedford Street,
London WC2E 9ES or you can email us at
[email protected]ASIMO, the humanoid robot, sings and plays with a football four times a day at
the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo.
Courtesy of Penny Winters.
The next theme is nature’s patterns, to celebrate the change in seasons.
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Tuesday 24 September.
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