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In Case You Missed It… Assorted Oddities from Around the Web

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Last updated on September 10th, 2021 at 09:09 am

Wanna Find the Loch Ness Monster? There’s an App for That.

The legendary Loch Ness Monster has perhaps been spotted on Apple Maps. Images on the satellite mapping service shows what looks to be a 100-foot long creature with flippers and a long tail swimming underwater in the Loch. The pictures were spotted late last year by two Brits – 26-year old Andrew Dixon and 49-year old Peter Thain – both of whom notified the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club. After studying the images for several months, the club broke the news to London’s Daily Mail last Friday, saying they show what is “likely” Nessie.

The images are the first reported sighting of the Loch Ness Monster in over 18 months. They’re also the first taken of Nessie from space.

Don’t Build a House, Print It!

The home construction industry may soon be revolutionized by 3-D printing. The WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Company of Shanghai recently reported printing the structural materials for ten houses in one day. The 500-foot long printer employs recycled building materials as the print medium. University of California researchers are constructing a printer that can print the outer and inner walls of a house on-site in 24 hours. The concrete walls are printed by the colossal robot-like printer assembled and standing in-place. And the Danish firm, DUS Architects, is currently building a house from bio-plastic blocks 3-D printed on a building site. The blocks fit together in a fashion similar to Legos.

Other 3-D printed items in various stages of development include organs and bones, food, cars, guns, Happy Meal toys, clothing, and replica fetuses.

Google Glass Prompting SF Assaults?

20-year old Kyle Russell is the second Google Glass-wearer since late February to report being assaulted in San Francisco. The Berkeley journalist says after a day of covering local Google protests, he was on his way to the 16th Street BART station when a nearby woman yelled out,”Glass!”, snatched the device from his face, and ran. Russell and a friend gave chase, but the as-yet unidentified woman smashed the Glass and got away. Russell doesn’t believe his assailant was involved in the protest, as she wore a black leather jacket and boots, and had a faux-hawk with the sides of her head shaved – “not really how I’d describe anyone in the crowd at the protest”.

On February 26, San Franciscan Sarah Slocum reported being verbally and physically assaulted by two women she describes as “Google Glass haters.” The incident took place in an area bar while Slocum was demonstrating her Glass to an acquaintance. A man snatched the Glass from Slocum, who ultimately recovered the device and posted a recording of the incident she made with the Glass.

“Glasshole” has become a derogatory term for a Google Glass-wearer.

Russia Gets off Lightly on its Latest Meteor

For the second time in a little over a year, a meteor streaked dramatically over Russian skies.

Friday night, a meteor was observed over Murmansk, Russia, a port city in the extreme northwest corner of the country. Dashcam and street camera videos of the object flashing into a searing white fireball have been posted on multiple websites. It was likely part of the annual Lyrid meteor shower.

The Chelyabinsk meteor of February 15, 2013 is thought to have been around sixty feet wide and weighing 1330 pounds when it entered the atmosphere. It caused millions of dollars in damages and injured 1500 people as it burned in the atmosphere, releasing energy estimated as equivalent to 500 kilotons of TNT.

There have been no reports of significant injuries or damages from the Murmansk meteor.