Top 3 Dispatch: Loch Ness “Monsters” & OctoBots – Ep. 23

The past 20 years or so have seen an intense number of robots come into our lives. There’s robots that walk, talk, feel emotion, and some that even ride bikes. Oh, and wave. Now, just as the upcoming game Horizon Zero Dawn has mech-animals, scientists out of Livorno, Italy are developing robotic octopi. These suction cup armed suckers can crawl along the ocean floor, grasp onto objects and swim - just like their real life counterparts! Thanks to some clever biomimicry, these pioneers of soft robotics could come in handy for remote searches of the depths, as they can easily traverse hard to reach places and manipulate objects with their robotic tentacles. Just as a real octopus has great strength despite having no bones, the octobots are lightweight, yet utilize shape memory alloy to flex their powerful tentacles. Doc Oc must be drooling at the thought of an army of these little guys.

It’s a day many dream: you’re surrounded by friends, loved ones, flowers, the majestic scenery of an island getaway while your better half stands next to you. All eyes are on you as members of your family begin brandishing knives and igniting fireworks because some jerks booked the bridal suite directly adjacent to yours! Besides the island getaway, that exact situation played out in Bohai County, China after two wedding parties’ schedules clashed, spawning a four-hour battle. Superstitious beliefs and stubbornness are what spurred the confrontation, as it was feared the scheduling conflict was sure to bring bad luck to the newlyweds. 10 people were injured in the clash, leaving a warzone-esque sight to behold. While some speculate as to whether the two couples even ended up getting married, we wonder if Jet Li just forgot to let the authorities know he was shooting a film.

Like Elvis and Tupac, the loch ness monster is one of those characters we secretly all hope is hiding out there somewhere. Well, we’ll have to continue hoping, as the recent discovery of a 30-foot Loch Ness Monster brings us zero percent closer to finding it!
Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime began scanning the area of Loch Ness where recent sightings of the monster had been reported, and certainly their pulses raised when a Nessie shaped figure came up on their scans. Unfortunately though, this was just a prop used in the shooting of the 1970s movie “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.” Originally, the prop had humps on it to keep it afloat, which the director requested be removed, as he didn’t like the look. Special effects wiz Wally Veevers heeded the director’s demands, and naturally, the Nessie prop sank to the depths. Sorry Nessie nerds, the hunt continues.

So, do you think Nessie is still out there?
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