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The famous “Surgeon’s photo” of the Loch Ness monster, purportedly taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson in 1934 during a fishing trip north with his friend, Maurice Chambers. It is by far the most famous photo of Nessie, and helped to skyrocket the cryptid’s popularity after being sold to the Daily Mail in 1934 after popular sightings of Nessie in 1933. After Chambers passed away in 1994, personal papers revealed that the photograph was a hoax, having been taken by hunter and filmmaker Marmaduke Arundel Wetherell, having been a sculpture of wood and plastic made by sculptor Christian Spurling that was attached to a toy submarine. Spurling corroborated the story at the age of 90 in 1993, with the group deciding to have Wilson be the one to put the photo forth to lend credibility to the story as he was a physician. In spite of its proven falsehood, the Surgeon’s photo is still what many first think of when they hear of the Loch Ness monster -- and could you blame them? The hoax went on for over 60 years, only definitively ruled out because of testimony by its producers. The lighting allows the centered figure to remain obscure, yet establishes an iconic silhouette that many recognize. There is no scale to be given by anything surrounding the subject, so we cannot gauge size, creating more ambiguity. While color photography did exist in the form of Autochrome, it was rare, and thus understandable that Wilson, just going on a fishing trip, would not have it on his person, with the black and white coloring further obscuring detail and amassing any seams on the sculpture into a single silhouette.

A Dive Into Famous Folklore Monsters, or Cryptids, Their Origins, And If They Really Exist or Not

Scott Ernsberger, Staff Reporter
June 22, 2021
Magnolias are ancient trees. Their lineage stretches back to fossilized samples dated at some 2 million years old. They have been theorized to have been around for longer than bees, as one of very few flowers dotting the landscape as beetles were the best insects to conduct pollination at the time. This particular plant is the Magnolia x soulangeana, or saucer magnolia. Originally bred by a French plantsman in the early 1820s, it flowers early in the spring, and was planted all over pastoral landscapes in the British Isles. As Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux sought to turn Central Park into an English romantic pastoral landscape, it was an easy choice to place this plant in the pre-planned park. It is an imported species to this continent, yet is a prominent feature within Central Park, and an example of its nature, nonetheless.

A Rhapsody on Nature in New York City

Scott Ernsberger, Staff Reporter
April 21, 2021
London, the capital city of the United Kingdom, has been experiencing harsher lockdown measures after the emergence of the UK variant. Hounslow, typically a bustling residential borough in West London, is left destitute and empty with the lockdown in place.

The United Kingdom’s Lackluster Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Scott Ernsberger, Staff Reporter
March 18, 2021
Here is a comparison of the stories feature between Twitter and Instagram (on the top and bottom, respectively). When you have a story, the Add ring will be displayed like the unviewed stories in their respective apps. Snapchat, the first to implement the stories feature, differs from the other two, which are practically identical within the general design of their apps. With Snapchat, your story is in the top-left and the lineup of those you follow is moved down.

Numerous Social Media Redesigns Spread “Stories” Features

Scott Ernsberger, Staff Reporter
January 4, 2021
PS-144 is one of many New York City public schools turned into a polling station during the election season. Typically bustling with activity, the playgrounds are currently empty, and the voting lines short, as schools go remote and mail voting has become more common in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.

What the Constitution Has to Say About a Delayed Election

Scott Ernsberger, Staff Reporter
November 12, 2020
Business society has been an amazing club for me and my peers. I joined it during sophomore year because I had a fascination with business and our economy. Now as a co-president of the club I am able to give back and teach what I have learned to the members, said Vice President Anuj Phophaliya. The club was not able to discuss the Coronavirus pandemics impact upon the American economy, since in-person schooling stopped after March 16th, 2020.

Economic Trouble in the Age of Coronavirus

Scott Ernsberger, Staff Reporter
June 20, 2020
Jing-Mae Wang 20 has found it to be an adjustment in adapting her schedule under the new quarantine restrictions in place to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.

A Critique of the ‘Open America’ Movement During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Scott Ernsberger, Staff Reporter
May 10, 2020
Julian Bekong, ’21, finds the claims of Arson causing the Australian fires to be false and harmful to global discussions of climate change, and that “claims [of Arson] like this have stopped circulating.”

Australia’s Fires are a Horrifying Herald

Scott Ernsberger, Staff Reporter
April 15, 2020
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