If there is a Loch Ness monster, she’s feeling pretty good about herself right now. Robert H. Rines, the man who came closer than anyone to proving the existence of the fabled serpent, died last week at the age of 87. Over three and a half decades, and many, many trips to the famous Scottish lake, Rines produced numerous theories, several tantalizing photographs, and—alas—no evidence sufficient to convince the scientific community. Mainstream biology today holds the same position it did in June, 1972, when Rines first saw “a large, darkish hump, covered... with rough, mottled skin, like the back of an elephant”: there is no plesiosaurus, nor any other aquatic dinosaur, nor slithering monstrosity of any kind, in the murky depths of Loch Ness. [ Visit Website ]