Devastating news out of Britain today: the government says that despite overwhelming public support, they probably won’t be naming their $370 million research vessel ‘Boaty McBoatface‘.
“The new royal research ship will be sailing into the world’s iciest waters to address global challenges that affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people, including global warming, the melting of polar ice and rising sea levels,” explained science minister Jo Johnson, who btw is the *spitting* image of his older brother Boris.
“That’s why we want a name that lasts longer than a social media news cycle and reflects the serious nature of the science it will be going. There are many excellent suggestions among the 7,000 names put forward by members of the public and we’ll make a decision as to which one should be put forward for the royal warrant when we’ve had a chance to review them all.”
Other popular suggestions include second place winner RRS Poppy-Mai (named after a 16-month-old girl with incurable cancer), RRS Henry Worsley (named after the British explorer who died earlier this year attempting to become the first man to cross the Antarctic unaided) and RRS David Attenborough.
Various ‘PR expert’s / members of the science community are now arguing whether or not the Natural Environmental Research Council should pander to the public or go for something a little more science-y, but FWIW, guardian of the internet Reddit had some pretty solid insights:
Imagine Boaty McBoatface sank and everybody died. Imagine the news having to read that out with a straight face.
— Limmy (@DaftLimmy) April 17, 2016
Tom Sheldon, senior press officer at the Science Media Centre, called this whole competition exactly what it is: a win for science.
“Lots of people in science seem to see this as a bit of a PR disaster, but I think the opposite,” he said. “The entire nation have been discussing a polar research ship. And they’ve all heard of NERC. How many other scientific research councils could they name?”
‘None’, probably.
Source: The Guardian.
Photo: NERC.
