A £200m research vessel is set to be named RSS Boaty McBoatface, thanks to the internet https://t.co/3MpuzJObHK pic.twitter.com/iUos90OlCj
— The Independent (@Independent) March 21, 2016
Great Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is planning a new £200 million polar research vessel set to sail the waters of Antarctica and the Arctic in 2019, carrying a team of 90 scientists and support staff. In a move that they somehow never saw going wrong, NERC decided to turn to the internet to decide on a name for the revolutionary ship.
On the NERC website, the organization writes that they’re looking for an “inspirational name for the ship that will exemplify the work it will do.” Suggestions include naming it after a historical figure, movement, landmark, or a famous polar explorer or scientist.
So of course the internet chose the name “Boaty McBoatface” — because sometimes we can have nice things — which was leading with 15,000 votes before the “Name Our Ship” website crashed, or was otherwise taken down. Despite the fact that the terms and conditions state that the final name will ultimately be selected by NERC, people are unsurprisingly pretty dead-set on Boaty McBoatface.
Boaty McBoatface is pretty cool compared to the second place name "Chad"
— Friedrice Nietzsche (@tinynietzsche) March 21, 2016
If you think Boaty McBoatface is an unfortunate result rather than an absolute triumph, I don't want to share the same internet with you.
— Evan Hill-Ries (@evanhr) March 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/711917745550528512
Reading through the papers before the show at 5am rarely makes me laugh out loud but the story today about Boaty McBoatface did.
— Christian O'Connell (@OC) March 21, 2016
I can't say the words "Boaty McBoatface" out loud without crying with laughter and feeling very proud to be English.
— simon stephens (@StephensSimon) March 21, 2016
Let the British people name the new £200m science expedition ship they said, it'll be fun, they said…
BOATY McBOATFACE is winning! 😄
— MissFuckThisShit. (@Miss_Firefly_) March 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/seelix/status/711931852416802816
The man who actually came up with the name, former BBC Radio Jersey presenter James Hand, said in a radio interview Monday that he wrote in his suggestion as a joke and feels just terrible about the whole thing now.
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(Via The Independent)