Bliney, I thought it was one of......
the people on "Embarrassing Bodies" TV last night and his "problem" with private parts,lol. Infact I think the Blob looks healthier than his parts.
Satanic blob beast menaces North Carolina
Those of who who've just eaten or are generally of a nervous disposition are advised to look away now, because here is some sewercam footage captured under Raleigh, North Carolina, and which has been horrifying interweb citizens for the last couple of days: Quite disturbing, we're sure you'll agree. Mercifully, we can now …
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Thursday 2nd July 2009 15:25 GMT David S
May I be the first...
to welcome our sewer-dwelling slime-chomping underlords...
Was I the only one watching that, half-expecting a sudden cut to some CGI-rendered slavering monster lunging out and tearing the camera to pieces? Too many of those "where's the ghost" youtube efforts, I fear...
Still. Ew.
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Thursday 2nd July 2009 15:26 GMT frank ly
Not very frequent frequenting?
"..Ed Buchan, environmental coordinator at the Raleigh Public Utilities Department, explained to News 14 Carolina that the creatures frequent "sewage and pond sediment",
"..“I’ve seen a lot of sewer TV before and I’ve never seen them. We were surprised. We didn’t know immediately what it was.” ”
Aren't these two statements mutually exclusive if this man really does know anything about it?
Whatever it is, it really does look freaky!
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Thursday 2nd July 2009 15:50 GMT A. Lewis
Worms.
Apparently...
According to Dr Timothy Wood, freshwater bryozoa expert:
"They are clumps of annelid worms, almost certainly tubificids (Naididae, probably genus Tubifex). Normally these occur in soil and sediment, especially at the bottom and edges of polluted streams. In the photo they have apparently entered a pipeline somehow, and in the absence of soil they are coiling around each other. The contractions you see are the result of a single worm contracting and then stimulating all the others to do the same almost simultaneously, so it looks like a single big muscle contracting. Interesting video."
This has been mentioned on all the other blogs that've posted this. Why no mention on El Reg?
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Thursday 2nd July 2009 15:50 GMT Charles Tsang
Calling International Rescue...!
Did anyone else get a strange sense of deja vue watching the oversized water ripple?
It would seem that the camera is mounted on some ROV (remote operated vehicle). I was thinking the panning was remarkably smooth....
But after teh oversized water ripple, I expected a couple of "FAB Virgil!" soundbites and then to come across either the Mole or some new wonder machine transported by Thunderbirds 2.
But alas, they've sold out to vision express or someone haven't they?
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Thursday 2nd July 2009 22:32 GMT Anonymous Coward
@Charles Tseng
It is operated from an ROV. The 'robots', we refer them as tractors, can generally run about 1000' into the pipe and many have multiple cameras. Some of the newer models even have a 360° view as they roll down the pipe. They are used to inspect the pipes, find faults and map lateral lines in older systems where drawings aren't accurate.
It is very common to find 'wildlife' inside the sewers, though most of the time, they're not much bigger than spiders and other insects. Occasionally salamanders can be found and the odd alligator if you're in the southern US.
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Friday 3rd July 2009 00:40 GMT Psychic Amish Admin
@ Ben Mathews
These robocams have high resolution cameras with ultra bright headlights on them. The heads are capable of rotating completely around without tangling their launch cables. There are some robocams that can fit through 6" pipe as well as some monsters designed for 48" and 60" pipe. High resolution is needed as they inspect seams and cracks so that the repair crew can come back later and repair the breaks.
They actually collect a great deal of data during a session, and most good systems are tied into a GIS system. A great deal of technology goes into maintaining the sewer systems, our last truck cost us $250,000.
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Friday 3rd July 2009 07:17 GMT Anonymous Coward
@Anonymous Coward
"Question - Why does someone put a camera in a sewer in the first place?"
OK - if you're not an Engineer/Geek/Boffin move on to the next comment....
We sticks em up sewers cause we likes to see what's in em!
There are any number of reasons for CCTV'ing a sewer. There may have been a flooding incident locally - so is the sewer blocked? - in this case yes, with a slimy mass of Worm Overlords. I think Rentokill has it's work cut out for them there....
Alternatively it could be this: the longer a sewer is in use, the greater the potential it may have suffered some form of damage - say leaking joints, partial collapse, cracks etc. So every water utility has a programme of works for surveying the smaller diameter sewers with ROVs mounted with cameras. The cameras measure the distance up the sewer whilst recording the condition. That way the Utilities can dig down at the exact location(s) to carry out the repair instead of digging up the whole street.
Signed,
Anonymous Civil Engineer working for anonymous Water Utility in the UK.
<End of Engineer/Geek/Boffin entry>
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Friday 3rd July 2009 09:25 GMT alien anthropologist
@AC 15:52
> Hmmm... Is it just me, or does the image in the opening video frame resemble a
> close-up shot of a nipple?
A nipple!? Just where/what/how did you came to that conclusion.. er.. on second thought, we do NOT want to know.
Oh yeah - and it just you mate. Definitely just you.
(mine's the one with the airsick bags in the pocket)
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Friday 3rd July 2009 15:00 GMT storng.bare.durid
E-ver
You know, the more I think about it, the more I believe it's true.
Premise: Us slackers that waste our time posting comments up here possibly are more alike than we'd care to imagine.
I was about to post that quote verbatim, E-ver, only to see you beat me to it.
And it's certainly not the first time I've seen someone beat me to, say a pun, or some other silly pop-culture reference.
Aliens reference? done
Lovecraftian gothic reference? done
This topic is closed for new posts.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
