A university professor from New Zealand is planning to put our modern knowledge of genetics to work in solving a decades-old mystery: does the Loch Ness Monster, nicknamed ‘Nessie’, actually exist?

The University of Otago’s Professor Neil Gemmell is proposing that new genomic forensic techniques be used to search for the elusive creature. While Nessie gained widespread popularity via the oft-debunked "surgeon’s photograph" published in 1934, legends of a large creature living in the lake predate the famous picture. Numerous sightings have been reported over the past century, along with the publication of dozens of photographs that allegedly depict Nessie.
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This April, the hunt is on for researchers looking to confirm the continued existence of the presumed-extinct thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian tiger, following recent reports of sightings of the creature. The last known specimen died in captivity in 1936, at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. Countless sightings have been reported since, but to date none have been verified.
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In 2015, a 2,600-year-old shipwreck discovered off the coast of Gela in southern Sicily was found to contain 39 ingots of a mysterious alloy that archaeologists believe is the ancient metal known as orichalcum, a metal that Plato described as decorating the walls of the temple of Poseidon in Atlantis. Upon re-examining the wreck, archaeologists have uncovered new artifacts, including a jar, two Corinthian helmets, and 47 additional ingots of the mysterious metal.
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The wrecks of several warships that were sunk during the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942 have mysteriously disappeared, after marking the graves of their respective sailors for nearly three-quarters of a century. Officials are blaming commercial scrap metal scavengers for looting the site, having pilfered ships that belonged to the American, British and Dutch navies. But at least one salvage expert is skeptical about this being the work of ordinary scavengers.
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