Loch Ness Monster May Be an Eel
Scotland's famous Loch Ness monster could possibly be a large eel, scientists announced last week. The scientists made the announcement after they completed a study of genetic material from the Loch's cold waters.
Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a substance found in the cells of plants and animals. DNA is made up of genes, which carry a huge amount of information.
The scientists said their DNA results ruled out the presence of large animals such as dinosaurs. But there was a lot of eel DNA in the water, said Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from the University of Otago in New Zealand.
"We don't know whether these samples we've collected are from a giant beast or just an ordinary one - so there's still this element of 『we just don't know,'" he said.
Gemmell noted, however, that nobody had ever caught something as big as a giant eel in the Loch. Eels are long, bony fish that look like snakes. They are usually thin and have soft skin.
The international team of scientists collected water samples of what they are calling environmental DNA, or eDNA. Scientists have also used eDNA sampling as a tool to study sea life like whales and sharks.
The Reuters news agency describes how eDNA works: Whenever a creature moves through its environment, it leaves behind very small amounts of DNA from skin, scales, hair and waste. Scientists can capture the DNA, then try to identify the order of the genetic information. They can identify an animal by comparing the captured DNA to large computer databases.
The Loch Ness monster has a long history.
Saint Columba, a member of a Christian religious community, is said to have banished a "water beast" to the bottom of the River Ness in the 6th century.
The most famous picture of the Loch Ness monster was taken in 1934. It shows a head on a long neck coming out of the water.
This photograph is known as the "surgeon's photo." It was a hoax. Investigators said it actually shows a model of a sea monster connected to a child's toy submarine.
There have been many unsuccessful attempts to find the Loch Ness monster.
In 2003, the British Broadcasting Corporation paid for scientific research that used sonar beams and satellites to study the full length of the loch.
The most recent attempt was three years ago. An unmanned vehicle found a creature, but not the one it was looking for. The discovery was, in fact, a model used in the 1970 film "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes." It sank nearly 50 years ago.
I'm John Russell.
揭秘尼斯湖水怪的真相
科學家上周宣布，蘇格蘭著名的尼斯湖水怪可能是一條大鰻魚。該消息是科學家對湖泊冷水中的遺傳物質進行研究後宣布的。
脫氧核糖核酸（DNA）是一種存在於動植物細胞中的物質。DNA是由攜帶大量信息的基因組成的。
科學家們稱，他們研究的DNA結論排除了恐龍等大型動物的存在。不過，紐西蘭奧塔哥大學的遺傳學家尼爾·格默爾(Neil Gemmell)指出，海水中含有大量鰻魚的DNA。
他說：「我們不知道採集的這些樣本是來自巨型動物還是普通動物，所以這一點仍然是『我們不了解』的區域。」
然而，格默爾指出，從來沒有人在湖中釣到過類似於巨型鰻魚的動物。鰻魚是一種細長而多骨的魚，形狀與蛇類似。它們通常身型狹長，表皮柔軟。
國際科學家小組收集了所謂的「環境DNA (eDNA)」的水樣。科學家還將eDNA水樣作為研究鯨魚和鯊魚等海洋生物的工具。
路透社描述了eDNA的產生原理：當一種生物在環境中移動時，會經由皮膚、鱗片、毛髮和排洩物中會留下極少量的DNA。科學家可以捕獲DNA，然後嘗試確定基因序列。他們可以通過將捕獲的DNA與大型計算機資料庫進行比對來識別動物。
尼斯湖水怪的歷史由來已久。
聖哥倫巴（Saint Columba）是基督教社區的一員，傳說在公元6世紀，他曾將一隻「水獸」放逐到尼斯河的底部。
尼斯湖水怪最著名的照片拍攝於1934年。照片中一個有著長脖子的腦袋露出水面。
這張照片被稱為「外科醫生的照片」。這是個騙局。調查人員指出，照片中其實是一個與玩具潛艇相連的海怪模型。
人們曾多次試圖尋找尼斯湖水怪，但都不了了之。
2003年，英國廣播公司出資進行科學研究，利用聲納波束和衛星來研究整片尼斯湖的面積。
最近的一次嘗試是在三年前。一輛無人駕駛汽車發現了一個生物，但不是其要尋找的動物。事實上，這一發現是1970年電影《福爾摩斯私生活》中使用的一款模型。該模型在約50年前沉沒。
約翰·羅塞爾為您播報。