[ti:Loch Ness Monster May Be an Eel] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:01.56]Scotland's famous Loch Ness monster could possibly be a large eel, [00:07.40]scientists announced last week. [00:10.79]The scientists made the announcement [00:14.36]after they completed a study of genetic material from the Loch's cold waters. [00:22.04]Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a substance found in the cells of plants and animals. [00:31.76]DNA is made up of genes, which carry a huge amount of information. [00:38.92]The scientists said their DNA results ruled out the presence of large animals such as dinosaurs. [00:48.09]But there was a lot of eel DNA in the water, [00:52.81]said Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from the University of Otago in New Zealand. [01:00.76]"We don't know whether these samples we've collected are from a giant beast [01:06.46]or just an ordinary one - so there's still this element of ‘we just don't know,'" he said. [01:14.72]Gemmell noted, however, [01:17.12]that nobody had ever caught something as big as a giant eel in the Loch. [01:23.92]Eels are long, bony fish that look like snakes. [01:28.57]They are usually thin and have soft skin. [01:32.56]The international team of scientists collected water samples [01:38.03]of what they are calling environmental DNA, or eDNA. [01:44.44]Scientists have also used eDNA sampling as a tool to study sea life like whales and sharks. [01:53.24]The Reuters news agency describes how eDNA works: [01:58.72]Whenever a creature moves through its environment, [02:02.56]it leaves behind very small amounts of DNA from skin, scales, hair and waste. [02:11.56]Scientists can capture the DNA, then try to identify the order of the genetic information. [02:20.32]They can identify an animal by comparing the captured DNA to large computer databases. [02:29.36]The Loch Ness monster has a long history. [02:33.16]Saint Columba, a member of a Christian religious community, [02:38.29]is said to have banished a "water beast" to the bottom of the River Ness in the 6th century. [02:46.88]The most famous picture of the Loch Ness monster was taken in 1934. [02:53.59]It shows a head on a long neck coming out of the water. [02:59.64]This photograph is known as the "surgeon's photo." [03:04.01]It was a hoax. [03:06.00]Investigators said it actually shows a model of a sea monster [03:11.52]connected to a child's toy submarine. [03:16.04]There have been many unsuccessful attempts to find the Loch Ness monster. [03:21.41]In 2003, the British Broadcasting Corporation paid for scientific research [03:29.26]that used sonar beams and satellites to study the full length of the loch. [03:35.97]The most recent attempt was three years ago. [03:40.09]An unmanned vehicle found a creature, but not the one it was looking for. [03:46.42]The discovery was, in fact, a model used in the 1970 film [03:52.94]"The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes." [03:56.20]It sank nearly 50 years ago. [03:59.41]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM