Groundbreaking climate change discovery made by, sigh, Boaty McBoatface
Aux Features Boaty McBoatface
Climate change is real, and many would argue the most serious existing threat to humanity. Today, British scientists announced a major new discovery about how climate change is affecting sea levels that will most likely cause climate scientists to reconfigure their projection models. This discovery was made due to the efforts of, ugh, Boaty McBoatface.
Boaty McBoatface, if you recall, was the subject of some internet hubbub back in 2016. Since the internet at large can not be expected to exhibit any chill whatsoever, “Boaty McBoatface” was the winner of a contest held online by Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council to determine the name of a new $300 million research vessel. Because “Boaty McBoatface” is fucking stupid, the NERC then declared they would instead name the new boat by fiat, electing for the far more respectable and deserved RRS Sir David Attenborough. As a bone thrown to the hoi polloi, Boaty McBoatface was given to a small unmanned submarine housed aboard the Attenborough.
Now, as part of the Attenborough’s maiden voyage, Boaty McBoatface has made a major discovery, published in the journal PNAS, for which we must unfortunately give it credit. In short, the submersible traversed the waters of Antarctica measuring temperature, salinity, and current. What it found was that increasingly strong winds in the Antarctic are causing cold water at the bottom of the ocean to mix with warmer water from the middle levels. That, in turn, is causing overall ocean temperatures to rise, which contributes to rising sea levels. Previously unaware of this process, climate scientists will now need to adjust their sea-level forecasts.
This is indeed a major finding that deserves major coverage. The sad fact is, though, that Twitter and the majority of publications—this one included—would not be talking about this discovery had it not been made by an unmanned submarine with a very dumb and bad name. We are all as stupid as we are doomed.
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289 Comments
[Whispering quietly, in the corner]: i still like the name Boaty McBoatface
It’s bad, I’m afraid.(To be clear I have no issue with stupid joke names! I just wish it weren’t such a lazy, internet-y stupid joke name.)
You’re a remarkable idiot
Sez Gabby Wothefuk
I guess I get that take, but I actually prefer the silliness of a name like this, as opposed to something that we’re supposed to think is terribly clever. This isn’t about proving to the world (universe?) how clever we are, this is about people having a bit of fun.
So, the linked article was unrevealing. How did they manage to get stuck with Boaty McBoatface, anyway? I’m guessing it wasn’t a write-in, unless someone campaigned well for it.
Yeah, I think they had a website that let you put in names and it superimposed them onto an image of the ship. Then you could share it and get people to vote for it. B McB just went viral and won the whole thing.
Boaty McBoatface has its own Wiki page.
But that’s why it’s a good name. The more serious the subject, the dumber the joke.
Some people just can’t appreciate the inherent humor derived from the juxtaposition of extremely smart things (science!) with extremely dumb things (Boaty McBoatface!).
Boaty McBoatface is good actually
Well, they did an internet poll to name it. Not sure what they expected. A bit bummed out they didn’t name the actual ship Boaty McBoatface , as they promised.
Have you been to the interweb…?
You are just embarrassed that your humorlessness is being mocked, you poor stuffed shirt. Now go shake your fist and tell kids to git offa yer dang lawn.
hey Gabe, that’s the point….
You just hate the internet.
What about Very Good Boat?
Thank you, I stand with you, Gabe.
I don’t mind being silly and goofy, but Boaty McBoatFace is just plain fucking LAZY. It’s the epitome of internet-meme-based “lol monkey-cheese so random!” humor, but somehow with even less effort.
Blanky McBlankFace is just such a generic template that could be applied to literally anything in the universe.
For example, PretentiousKilljoy McPretentiousKilljoyFace
It’s bad, I’m afraid. I’m open to the argument that Boaty McBoatface is a bad name, but not that the Sir David Attenborough is somehow better.
You’re bad, I’m afraid.
I don’t know… the fact it is such a ridiculous, stupid, juvenile name is part of why slapping it on the side of this little yellow sub makes it so endearing. Look at that sub. Fricking adorable.
Awww, someone doesn’t understand the self-parody
I’m on your side. This Gabe Froboznik guy should be chucked into the ocean, only to be rescued by Boaty McBoatface, thus putting him forever in the submersible’s debt.
Then he’ll be Gabey McRedfaced.
I agree. Gabe ought to grow a sense of play. It’s amazing how he’s rejecting what works because it’s fun for Others (Gabe, are you sure that Others deserve no fun)
It’s a good name. The earth is burning, lets have a little stupid internet fun on our way out.
Reading about how we’re all fucked by 2040 and there’s probably nothing we can do about it is slightly less depressing when that news is delivered by Boaty McBoatface
Exactly
It’s a lazy name. One can have fun AND be creative, too.Your false choice between Boaty McBoatface and Submersible GX34762 is not the only option.It would have been more interesting and creative to name the boat Fart Noise than Boaty McBoatface.
Thank you.just replace “bad” with “best thing ever.”
Boaty McFloaty would clearly have been the superior name.
do you even understand the primary function of a submarine? For clarity, we’re talking about a SUB-marine here.
So did the AV Club, once upon a time. NERC democratically ran an online naming contest, where the clear winner has been declared: “Boaty McBoatface,” with an astounding 120,000 votes, outpacing the nearest runner-up four times over. But, jumping through a loophole, NERC has fallen back on its so-called “expert panel” to make the final decision. Like there’s a better name in the world than Boaty McBoatface. What would that even be? Floaty McFloats-a-lot? Sinky McSinkhead?
https://news.avclub.com/democracy-is-as-dead-as-the-name-boaty-mcboatface-1798246384 You’ve changed, man. You’ve changed.
You used to be cool!
[Yelling loudly for all to hear]: I still love it too, and to this day cannot read it without giving a good hearty laugh. Also, it’s a very British joke in its way, which I also enjoy
It would have been great to go full British and called it Ex-Parrot.
+100 – Anything that lures little kids toward science in an adorable way.
Likewise. It’s cute. If they wanted to name a boat after Attenborough, they could’ve & should’ve just done it without having the public vote.
To be fair, if my name was Gabe Worgaftik, I’d probably be salty about names too.
I think the name is genius and a tribute to the snarky humor of the Brits.
It makes me laugh every time. Not because it’s so wildly clever in and of itself, but for the sheer joyous silliness of it, combined with the throat-clearing and backpedalling that ensued when the Serious People who Name Ships in a Dignified and Serious Manner realized exactly how mad they must have been to trust in the internet’s capacity for sober, respectful discussion.
They didn’t turn the name down because it was too silly; it fits the English sense of humour to a T. I’m quite certain the main objection with Boaty Mcboatface was how Scottish it sounds.
Don’t whisper, shout it
Also the alternative names were probably extremely racist and bigoted things. So I’ll take Boaty Mcboatface than the other side of the internet.
Next one will be called “I’m on a boat”.
In a final twist, Sir David Attenborough, has changed his namee to Boaty McBoatface.
Amd you should. What poor stick up the but Gary here isn’t taking into account is how wide and far this story is going to spread. Mostly by the indignation of other opinionists like Gary McHateFace.
It wasn’t a bad name for a ship, but for a fucking submarine it’s stupid. Yes, I know in the US Navy ships are ships and not boats but submarines are boats, however, it should’ve been named Submarine McSubface!
Boaty McBoatface brings a smile to my face and reminds me of the childlike joy and curiosity well once had until this world started to turn to shit. We need Boaty McBoatface now more than ever.
I feel like if Boaty McBoatface was in the name of the year bracket, it would be a top-3 seed
It’s pure light-hearted silliness, and as such it is perfect.
This story actually proves that it IS a good name.As Gabe says, people wouldn’t be hearing as widely about this important discovery were it not for the name of the submarine.It is good that people hear more widely about this important discovery.Therefore the submarine has a good name!
It could have brought back a note from one of Gods kids (not Jesus, the other one. Randy) saying “Stop fucking with the planet because its pissing me off” and nobody would do anything about it.Its over.
What a douchebag! If you feel insulted by the name “Boaty McBoatface” you need not just to lighten up, you also need to fucking grow up.
The McBoatfaces are a very old and venerable Scottish family
The traditional McBoatface family tartan is underappreciated.
Ummm, and people who rant, and use crude derogatory name-calling, in return – what should they do?
You’re going to have to be more specific; you just described all of humanity.
I say we open it up to an internet poll and see how Mr. Lightenup feels about the results!
You mean Mr. Lightenup McLightenupface?
“Someone disagrees with me. I guess the only possible reason is they were offended!!”-Idiots
published in the journal I’m convinced these guys just enjoy using silly names.
See now this right here is a good stupid joke.
We live in a timeline where an undergrad published a 10,000 word paper on the aerodynamic properties of anime tiddies, complete with CFD simulation.
“Published”
True, it’s only published in the same sense as the button on the YouTube video uploader says ‘Publish’.
PNAS is the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It’s a prestigious, peer reviewed journal. You can’t just submit anything and get it published.
I’m jealous of anyone who gets published in that journal. You could say I have PNAS envy.
My wife has a few papers published in PNAS. I hadn’t thought of it before, but now I’m starting to have PNAS envy of my wife…
Considering these guys were doing their research in the cold waters of Antarctica, it should come as no surprise that the journal article was much smaller than usual.
I was just reading the latest issue, but I think lost it. Have you seen my PNAS? Could you check if you’re sitting on my PNAS?
I have experienced this joke in real life: As an ignorant freshman, one of the things we had to do in our intro biology lab was read a scientific article and develop a brief presentation summarizing it. My article was on facial tumors in Tasmanian devils, and it was published in PNAS. I gave my presentation and legit had no idea why people were snickering throughout the entire thing, going so far as to have to ask someone else afterwards why people were laughing at me. Not my brightest hour.
“So what do you do?”
“I work for PNAS”
“nice.”
Poor dude really thought he had a good tinder date going.
I’m opening a new periodical and open electronic archive named Journal McJournalface.
My goal in life as a scientist is to get published in PNAS. Still working on it
isn’t this more like when it turned out the ice bucket challenge raised a ton of money for research? seriously, I hate the old world, the quicker it dies and Boaty McBoatface takes over the better.
Um, maybe arbitrary human standards of what is “cool” don’t matter as much as being able to do the f**king job.Tell them to suck it, Boaty!
Boaty is one Mellow Yellow, calmly and methodically travelling the oceans to help save us humans from ourselves.
I didn’t realize there were actual human people who were mad about the name of this boat.
We should relabel ‘worst case scenario’ climate forecasts to reflect how ‘worst case’ has been pretty much proven, tracked and guaranteed now.
Or we could give these scenarios cutesy nicknames to make people more interested in understanding them. Extinctiony McCannihilationface has a nice ring to it.
Or just start referring to worst-so-far case scenarios. Real life keeps dropping the standards.
Yeah? Well, we all think “Gabe Worgaftik” is a stupid name!
Worgaftik isn’t even a real name, it’s just someone dropping a keyboard.
Ha ha! I love that Monty Python episode! “Gabe Worgaftik”
I’d say it’s as good a name, if not better, than the author of the article… seriously tho, why detract from a very important and interesting discovery by referring to the name of the boat so much? Flimsy.
we in the earth sciences biz love Boaty McBoatface. Any technologies, any devices, anything that can further science discovery gets respect as we can see beyond labels. Well, beyond most labels … as we’re pretty much all in agreement that batshit BoJo is a wanker.
Preach! If not for the name, we might never have heard of the results. Now, having heard of the results, the climate change models will improve and possibly, just possibly, we’ll be able to figure something out to avoid our inexorable doom.
Hats off to Boaty McBoateface! Hip-hip-McBoatface!
I think you mis-typed “best thing ever” as “bad.” Clearly we should welcome our new Boaty overlords.
Don’t have time to read the article at the moment but isn’t this wind effect just upwelling? It’s why our spring waters in Northern California are colder than waters in Oregon.
Hey Gabe, I heard they’re naming another submersible for Raymond Throatwobbler Mangrove, once they have the “Raymond Luxury Yacht” stencil done. You may now express your indignation.
That would have been a good name!
Oh RLY?
Your line is, “That’s a very silly submersible and I’m not going to write about it any more.”
It’s only spelled Luxury Yacht.
That sounds like a name which could only have been dreamed up on a camping holiday.
I’m not sure I see the problem.
Anti-Semitism, clearly.
It was pronounced “Throatwobbler Mangrove” there was no Raymond in the pronunciation, only in the spelt Raymond Luxury Yacht.
That’s all up to the final decision of the Ministry of Silly Watercraft Designations. Nothing is final yet.
No, no, no. It’s spelt Luxury-Yach-T, but it’s pronounced DeVos…
That’s the Right Honorable Dr Sir Raymond Throatwobbler Mangrove to you, pal.
People are hating on the name, as if it’s the worst thing the Internet ever did, and here I am relieved that it wasn’t named “Hitler did Nothing Wrong.”
Personally, I’d go with “Hitler Did Nothing Wrong McHitler Did Nothing WrongFace”.
Sounds like the go-to recommendation for the renaming of Boeing’s 737 Max.
Crashy McCrashface?
Let’s go whole hog on the pattern and call it “[entire text of War & Peace] Mc[entire text of War & Peace]face”.
Yes, but don’t fill in the brackets with the actual text. Just leave it like that.
The argument I always want to make in response to those who make that statement in earnest is that Hitler lost the War so that’s at least one thing.
Say what you want about Hitler, but he was the man who killed Hitler.
Sure, but he was about 10 years late, that asshole.
He killed Hitler. We have to give him credit for that.
Whatever you do, don’t mention the war!
Don’t forget that he’s also the man who single-handedly killed Hitler.
I feel bad for Nothing Wrong.
It was *this* close to being named the HMS But Her Emails.
The HMS Buttery Males is a very different type of boat.
And have you tried getting tickets for it? It’s booked out for the next two years!
I still can’t believe that won dub the dew. Should have been fapple.
Fucking this. It’s benign, it’s amusing, and killjoys still go out of their way to trash it.
A fair point well made.
Agreed. Considering how horrible the internet can be, I’m glad this turned out so innocently goofy. I wish the internet went that way more often.
Seriously, I feel like I could imagine at least 10 different actually-horrible names that could have been chosen but they would have probably all flagged Kinja’s “don’t be a jerk” guidelines.
I’m not sure what is sillier, the simple fact that we anthropomorphize and name inanimate objects in the first place, or that we’ve gotten to a place where, without irony, we can feel or cast shame when an inanimate object isn’t given a “respectable” name.
Is it any sillier than names like the Reliant, the Indomitable, or any number of names from Greek mythology? At least Boaty McBoatface doesn’t sound like it’s compensating for something.
I call my dick the Incontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
Things built by people, that will only last a few years, can get disposable names. I chuckle at the innocent silliness of Boaty McBoatface. Mountains and rivers should get good names. We shouldn’t have replaced Denali with McKinley, and the several names for the Hudson’s unusually long tidal estuary (“two-way river,” etc.) are all better than Hudson. Make the name fit the geography, and it carries a message.
No, the dumbest part of this whole debacle is that, instead of naming the boat Boaty McBoatface, they decided to call a submarine Boaty McBoatface…it’s like naming your dog Kitty or something.
Isn’t a submarine technically a boat?And isn’t this actually a submersible rather than a submarine, which makes it even more boat-like (more boaty, if you will)?
A submarine is a boat like a hotdog is a sandwich; doubly so for a submersible, since it’s unmanned. If anything, it’d be more like a remote-control torpedo.
Strictly speaking, ONLY submarines are boats. In maritime speak, at least.
Subs are usually called boats, unlike most other large vessels.
Except for naming your dog Kitty is a kick-ass move.
Technically, a submarine is a boat, so it’s still fine.Your statement is akin to getting upset at someone naming their dog “Wolfy McWolfyface” because “dogs aren’t wolves.”
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union didn’t name their subs. Do you want to be like them? No? Case closed.
Actually the Germans did a poll in 1932 in Weimarische Republicszhen Digest to name their new submarines, and the winner was “Unter McUnterFace Boatschein.” When the Nazis took over, they shortened it to “U-Boat” to make it sound a little more intimidating.
would you get on a boat named “Deathtrap”?
Because “Boaty McBoatface” is fucking stupidGabe Worgaftik is dead to me. There is clearly no reason to ever read another article written by this person who very much sucks.
Internet consensus is weird as a hell.The Big Bang Theory = dumbA Big Bang Theory level joke for the name of a boat = AWESOME!!!
What’s wrong with McBoatyface? Sounds like a wonderful name to me.
“Because ‘Boaty McBoatface’ is fucking stupid….”I do not like this take! I hate unnecessary formalism, such as dress codes and stupid fucking naming rules. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HAVING A LITTLE HARMLESS FUN. Giving something a silly name gives people a little bit of joy and also makes it more accessible to the general public. They’ll be more likely to read about it, understand it, and care about it. “RRS Sir David Attenborough” is a boring-ass, shitty, joy-killing name. “Fuck David Attenborough” would have been better. Who was he? Who cares! Fuck ‘im!
Man, I was with you at the start, and then you dissed Sir David and you lost me completely.
Yeah, talking about the importance of bringing people joy, making things accessible, helping people understand and care about environmental issues… then shitting on my man Sir David?!
I think we can all agree that Fart Noise or Woofers the Dog or Thin Mint is not a stuffy name for a boat, but would also be a dumb name for a boat.Apply this same logic to your The Dude-ing about someone not liking the name Boaty McBoatface
Sir David Attenborough provides joy, entertainment, and education to countless people through his work making new and complex information more accessible to the general public – in turn making them more likely to read about it, understand it, and care about it (and possibly even change their habits and / or cast their votes differently because of it).Also;“Who was he? Who cares! Fuck ‘im!”Uh… he’s still alive – and still active doing important work for which he is highly recognized (thus the naming of the boat after him).
“Because “Boaty McBoatface” is fucking stupid”Wrong.
Yet, it is impossible to find ocean level rise data for the last 10-20 years.
“Because “Boaty McBoatface” is fucking stupid”No, You are fucking stupid.
Yeah yeah the world’s dying and scientists are working tirelessly to stop it but WACKY BOAT NAME GUYS
Remember when naming a boat “Boaty McBoatface” was the dumbest thing the internet mob ever did? You know, BEFORE electing Donald Trump? Ah, such innocent times.
Hey look everybody, it’s Gabey McGabeface!
I like the name Boaty McBoatface. I face serious challenges every day of my life and I consider myself lucky as there are far more out there that face even more serious difficulties than I. My life is full of things that matter. What’s wrong with having something just silly that doesn’t matter? Good Sir please stop taking this one topic so seriously. It’s not worthy of this scorn. For some it’s a sign of hope for humanity.
Fuck you and your idiotic hating on Boaty McBoatface, Hater McHateyface. =P
A well needed laugh! 🙂
Haha, indeed. Made me laugh 🙂
Fuck off troll.
Yep. This seems like the kind of dude who supports playful fun things.
Quiet you! We’re the internet. Cross us and we’ll change your legal name to Bloggy McButthead.
“Boaty McBoatface discovers how climate change will decimate humanity.” is the 21st century boiled down to a single sentence.
Everyone, thank your shitty leaders and merchant lords on the way out.
Don’t hate on Boaty McBoatface. It’s a perfect, wonderful name and YOU NEED TO LOVE IT, GABE.
I see you have no whimsy.
Gabe, you have no idea how this story was covered in Britain. A tale of unjust voting practices and betrayal. We all know what that boat should be called.
Some people like being silly, others like to criticize things that are silly. There is room enough in the world for people that are right or wrong.
I am frankly thrilled that they went through with calling the sub that name. I tip my hat Mr. McBoatFace. sail on!!!!
The author of this article is a fucking philistine
Boaty McBoatface is a great name, and your life is lacking in sufficient fun if it bothers you.
Seems that the name is bringing some much-needed attention to otherwise boring and obscure discoveries
Where’s the data that it obtained? The articles don’t seem to have it.
As a bone thrown to the hoi polloiUp until just now, I thought hoi polloi meant the exact opposite of what it does.I’m sure I always heard it as referring to the snotty upper class/bosses.
Learning!
As stupid as the name is, this is a very important discovery and if this is what it takes to get the word out, then so be it. A major objection raised by deniers has been the rising ocean temperatures that appeared to be coming from the bottom of the ocean and not from the surface, which in their opinion meant the rising temperatures were not man-made in origin. Also, the constantly changing and wildly inaccurate projections of the future threw the legitimacy of the climate change advocates into question, at least in the mind of the deniers.Now, we have an explanation as to why the rising ocean temperatures are appearing to start from the bottom and with this date, more accurate future projections can be made. The deniers will still be out there, but this takes away the two arguably decent objections they have raised against man-made climate change.
Counterpoint: Boaty McBoatface is a fantastic name and you’re simply a buzzkill.
IT’S NOT EVEN A BOAT!(sorry, I’ll calm down now)
“The sad fact is, though, that Twitter and the majority of publications—this one included—would not be talking about this discovery had it not been made by an unmanned submarine with a very dumb and bad name.”So maybe the name selecting poll did exactly what it was intended to. Maybe it got people to take an interest in something of vital importance because they felt a personal stake in it. Sure, you could argue that people should be paying attention to climate change anyway, but look at the way we live now. There’s so much noise out there. On any given day I’ll hear about a natural disaster in one country, a political scandal in another, a human rights violation in a third. There’s so much information, a lot of it urgent and disheartening, coming at us all the time. We need ways to engage. If that means we pay attention to a major environmental issue because of cute little Boaty McBoatface, then that’s fantastic
They should have given it a serious and truthful name like “Gabe Worgaftik Is A Joyless Asshole With a Small Prick”
I mean getting people to read an article is not the same as getting someone to take interest in the subject.Furthermore it likely does nothing to change the minds of skeptics who will use the silly name as justification to call it bogus. Now if we had named the sub “Ronald Reagan”, a lot of skeptics would be instantly convinced in the credibility.
The Trump Sump
Clearly, payback’s a bitch. 😁
I noticed an error in this article. It turns out that, actually, “Boaty McBoatface” is the greatest name in history.
Didn’t realise Buzz Killington worked here.
Boaty McBoatface is 10,000 times better a name than the David Attenborough. That racist clown
This is why calls for mandatory voting are so misguided. Sure it would be good if more people voted, but if and only if they’re actually politically engaged and want to put good people into office.What they should have done was name the ship “RRS Sir David Attenborough, or Boaty McBoatface to her friends”.
And so, after holding forth a promise that implied that maybe democracy was okay sometimes, and then reneging on it because they were butthurt that the name of an inanimate fucking object was going to be too “stupid,” it became clear to everyone that the voters who were fine with giving a silly name *to an inanimate fucking object* were the real villains, and not the people who 1) were too stupid to realize what would happen when they held forth the original offer, 2) held it forth anyway, and then 3) reneged for an equally stupid reason.Because hey, basic principles of fairness and honesty as they relate to contract law? Pfffft. Cynically leveraging the notion of democracy for publicity? Pfffft. That stuff is the hallmark of Good, Serious People everywhere.
This is one of the best bits of news I’ve heard all week.
“yeah but you can’t prove it’s not caused by humans so suck it, boaty.” – republican fat cats
“Let’s create a carbon exchange that will make Al Gore rich. Who cares if only the elite get to fly, eat steak, own the latest smartphones and newer cars! There will be less jobs too, yay! We are helping!”Surely there is a middle ground between denial, choking the world economy and making those in power more elite/rich, right?RDJ is funding some interesting tech and multiple scientists have theories/prototypes of carbon scrubbers. I have this crazy idea! How about we take all the money spent by the Federal Government upgrading employee’s flights to business class ($146 MILLION DOLLARS) and use it to fund these ideas?How about we take all that money from drone strikes that Obama LOVED to use and put it towards that research? How about instead of “yuge” Trump screwing with Iran and starting another WW we take that money and fund these ideas?You know, this is just off the top of my head.
I would invite anyone who thinks the name Boaty McBoatface is the harbinger of stupidity and doom, to click the author’s name and scroll through the inspiring humanitarianism that are an array of Crash Bandicoot, Sonic the Hedgehog, Kid Rock, and Vampire Weekend cover headlines to better the internet’s collective IQ.
Is that UK’s version of buffoon-in-chief-refuse-to-call-him-prez-in-any-timeline-tRump Boris Johnson in that photo up there?UPDATE: read the small small caption and yes indeed it is UK-buffoon-masquerading-as-a-functioning-adult-not-terribly-well.
Get bent
Denigrate Boaty Mcboatface all you want, but at least it got people talking about climate change. It may not be the best name, but it’s the one we needed this day. Attenborough is a treasure and perfect name, but not the name we deserve.
You must be fun at parties.
Boaty McBoatface is awesome, and your opinion is shit.
Really? You are so rigid that you dislike playful creativity and begrudge creativity’s gains? Thank the Weavers that folks the opposite of you exist!
I find it hilarious how many “pro-creativity” people are also putting forth the argument that Boaty McBoatface was the only possible way to be creative. Weird. I don’t like the name because it’s NOT creative. It’s regurgitation of a dumb internet joke that’s been made a million times already.
so…what was the finding? sea levels will rise earlier than expected, or later, or something else entirely different? the article didnt state what the result was, just what they discovered. i assume its that rising levels will happen sooner than expected?
Man – I get the desire to be funny. But damn it – there are SO MANY scientists and advocates toiling away in anonymity that deserve to have anything, even a small unmanned sub like this, named after them.
The sad fact is, though, that Twitter and the majority of publications—this one included—would not be talking about this discovery had it not been made by an unmanned submarine with a very dumb and bad name.So the “dumb and bad name” has actually done some good by bringing awareness to the discovery.
First thing I thought of when I saw Boaty McBoatface was the Beatle’s Yellow Submarine. You keep on, Boaty.
Hey Gabe, maybe they can send the land-probe version of the noble McBoatface to search for the stick up your ass? Maybe it can find your sense of humor, too!
Deploying Assy McDeepprobe!
Wait a minute.. is that…?
So if there is a phenomenon that is INCREASING sea live rise that they
knew nothing about, then why have the estimates for sea level rise been
too HIGH up to this point? Won’t this discovery just push them model
estimates higher and therefore make them less accurate relative to the actual rise? Good Lord I wish the discoveries, models, and actual numbers would line up. Then the deniers might just shut up.
I don’t know why having a stupid name on a research vessel is necessarily bad. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, nothing really matters, even less so a research ship named “Sir David Attenborough”. The scientific process is quite boring to the casual observer, so why not give them an extra reason to follow it?
People need to lay off Boaty’s name.That’s his NAME. He was BORN WITH IT.Sheesh.
I fucking love Boaty McBoatface. I use the joke whenever I can (everyone remembers it and it’s completely inoffensive) and I’m so thrilled that it’s in the news again.
So… scientist confirmed warm water added to cold water makes the cold water not as cold? Cheers.
Could have been a worse name…
What’s wrong with this cunt licker that he has a problem with the boat name? Fuck off, dick nozzle.
Brave of the guy whose last name resembles a pile-up at the Consonant Factory to cast aspersions on someone else’s moniker.
This is a bad take. Lighten up.
I mean, you just said we wouldn’t even be discussing it if it didn’t have such a ridiculous name… maybe a little stupidity is what it takes to get the masses to notice?
ikely cause climate scientists to reconfigure their projection models.
lol By modifying their data to fit their new projection models. Which is LITERALLY ANTI-SCIENCE.
Reading the name of the boat immediately made me open the article, the only thing that slightly deterred me was the lofty misguided idealism of intellect from a writer more concerned about commenting and reporting the history of a name than the actual events that led to the discovery or the time frame of the voyage it has been on. We are doomed because people like you cannot be serious in reporting facts in a non-partisan way anymore and almost always choose opinionated commentary over important information.
And yet Florida is STILL not underwater yet. WTF is taking so long!?!?!
Did some piece of shit named Gabe actually just have the unimaginable balls necessary to call a different name dumb? Wow.
They’re good names, Gobe.
This is the worst take on Kinja since Hamno’s soup spoon article.
“Boaty McBoatface” is an AWESOME name, and always will be.Also, as entertainment showmen say, do whatever it takes to gets the butts in the seats, as long as they stay for the show. If a silly (but awesome) name is what it takes to get people to pay attention to and absorb global warming news, then we should be using them a lot more often.
Wow Gabe, are you really in position to say that the internet “can not be expected to exhibit any chill whatsoever”, when you display absolutely no chill about the name chosen?Quite ironic. Camel doesn’t see his own hump.
Debate about the name aside, I see the following things discussed all the time in the climate change topic:* Extreme weather, e.g., hurricanes* Rising temperatures, both in terms of hot, dry periods causing fires, but also average global temperatures* Wetter, colder winters, e.g., the “polar vortex”* Rising sea levels / melting glaciers & polar ice capsHowever, what I don’t ever see discussed is increased daily wind. Every fucking day for the last 3-4 years has been far windier just walking down the street than I remember it being twenty years ago. Every time I go to my local beach I get sandblasted and I don’t remember that as a kid.Is anyone studying average global wind speeds?Is this all in my head or is it possibly just getting windier?
Why does the submarine need to have a regal or scientific name? Hell, in this day and age I wouldn’t name anything after a person with how fast our idols are torn down by scandal. FFS, there are so many other issues in the world (climate change being on of them) to stress about, yet you spent more time whining about the name of the sub than talking about the implications of the discovery.If you want to talk about stupid, NERC naming the submersible “Boaty McBoatface” when clearly “Subby McSubface” was the more accurate option.
Knowing the guy that was responsible for the campaign he literally twitches every time someone mentions the name.
It is definitely a ridiculous name, BUT, as you said, we wouldn’t be talking about this discovery if it wasn’t for the ridiculous name. if it takes a silly name to bring awareness of how our world is changing to more people, then give every research vessel we can name a silly name!
Maybe the internet wasn’t such a good idea.
Boaty McBoatface shall not be denied! It’s a name destined to make history.
i laugh every time i read Boaty McBoatface.
It’s bullshit that the whole ship wasn’t named that. We saw a Lego recreation of it at the local museum and I told my son the tail of its true name!!!
Because “Boaty McBoatface” is fucking stupidNo, you’re fucking stupid. That name is great!!!
I don’t know, man, try hating fun a little less.
You’re wrong. You’re Wrongy McWrongface.
All this talk about fixing the climate or stopping climate change is pointless. It’s over. We had our chance. We’ve known about this for decades and we’d been warned. The absolute best we can hope for now is damage control, and even that will be minimal. We are well and truly fucked.
How do we explain the wind though? is it an increase in wind strength due to man-made climate change? How can we prove this to force legislators’ hands in the matter? They could easily claim the wind is just natural occurrence that cannot be altered, etc., etc…. meh, always fighting against the wind with this, ha.
Contrary to your thesis: we should just give all quotidian research vessels really stupid, crowd-sourced name so more people will actually give a care.
The name is the reason we’re all reading this discovery. So… more joke names for science!
*kicks dirt* we should have called it Submariney McSubmarineFace
We’re pretty much fucked at this point. No way corporations and big business are going to cut back enough to stop an extreme change happening. People would rather ignore the problem and keep convinience rather than cut back and except how bad the situation is.
Hey, if the stupid name gets publications talking about climate science findings, then MORE STUPID NAMES PLEASE.
Or, conversely, people enjoy fun. And science is often long stretches of tedium followed by short bursts of excitement, so scientists also enjoy a bit of fun. And if the general internet-based public finds humor to be a pathway into awareness of scientific endeavors, well, that’s more than they had before. And so, hey, let’s not worry about it?
Boaty McBoatface has resurfaced
man there is a whole lot of whining in here about a lighthearted name for an ROV (that would otherwise remain nameless) that is doing relevant work producing tangible evidence of changing oceanic currents. get over it, it’s making marine science relevant and shows that eggheads still have a sense of humor. Thats a good thing.
Imagine feeling like you have to pretend to be to cool for Boaty McBoatface. Or was that an editorial decision and you drew the short straw?
ugh, Boaty McBoatface.They’re good boats, Brent.
Eh, I still think Boaty McBoatface goes all the way ‘round the horn, from stupid, to funny, all the way to stupid funny.
Banner day when climate scientists admit they didn’t know something.
Sadly, we’ll likely never learn if the aliens who will write our obituary would have shared our deep and abiding love of irony.
Wait….why are tips going to The Onion?
Fuck you and your Boaty McBoatface hate. Boaty MvBoatface is a treasure and the true name chosen by the people. Get over yourself.
Oh yes. Much better to name the boat after the patron of Population Matters who believes that overpopulation is the main problem facing the planet. I always thought Boaty McBoatface was the most reasonable choice.“Sir David Attenborough has trashed the idea of sending food aid to starving people in famine-ridden countries and has urged for more debate about population control.The veteran broadcaster warned that the world was “heading for disaster” soon due to the “threat” of overpopulation.”
https://newspunch.com/sir-david-attenborough-population-control-sending-food-famine-countries-barmy/
It is a great name that now has people talking about science. Gabe, quit yelling at us for being on your lawn, we’re all on the sidewalk.
And had the RRS Atenborough been given the silly name, it and its crew would have been given credit for the discovery. Children’s books and folk songs would have been written about it. Students of science would have always been able to remember its name on tests. Every discovery about the ocean for decades would have been incorrectly attributed to it the same way everything we know about oceans now is commonly attributed to Jacques Cousteau. They could have had FREE PRESS whenever they wanted it just by having the Captain of the RRS Boaty McBoatface read the press release. The christening of RRS Boaty McBoatface is the best opportunity that EVER happened to British oceanographic research (both culturally and monetarily), and they choked on it because they thought the name was beneath their dignity.
You spent 2/3 of time writing about Boaty and your disdain for his name, then a single paragraph about it’s discovery. Priorities man… You want people to care about climate change? Lead by example!
an unmanned submarine with a very dumb and bad nameGabe is much worse, and he sounds like an ass.
I love that name BECAUSE of how stupid and lazy it is. Remember this is the internet after all. The community that gave us rickrolling.
And the chicken littles continue to try and push a narrative that “the earth is dying” and “it’s all America’s fault” and “we must institute immediate self-flagellation to repent”.Screw your carbon tax, and screw the Paris accord, which was just a way to fleece trillions from guilty (left) Americans while allowing the real perps China and India to INCREASE their pollution and CO2 output.You leftists continue to shut down the only viable “clean” energy, nuclear plants. You have no actual solutions, and the only thing you’ve suggested is throwing trillions of our tax dollars which MAY decrease the temp by .004 degrees by 2100.“Klymut Chanj” is your new leftist god – kowtowbow to her without me.
Every party needs a pooper thats why they invited you.
I’ll never forget when Austin held a vote to rename the waste disposal plant and the overwhelming winner was “The Fred Durst Waste Disposal Plant.” They cancelled the competition. lol
Sigh…sea levels rising. Actually, over 58,000 sq miles of land has been created in the past 30 years and 13,000 of that has been along coastlines. Even when studied rigorously, there is no sea-level effect of anthropogenic global warming in even the world’s most recorded regions (taken from a study of Denmark and Greenland). In fact, many studies suggest that sea levels were much higher during the pre-industrial ages.
Ugh, get off your high horse….the name is quite funny
Say what you will. But I still chuckle when I hear “Boaty McBoatface”. And in this day and age anything that can elicit a smile is a blessing. I’ll take it. 🙂
I’m troubled by your anti-Irish sentiment. That sort of prejudice is disgusting, and I won’t stand for it.
“The world will never again elect something this stupid.”- Early 2016“Hold my beer.”-November 2016
It’s still a fun name, and hell it’s given the article way more attention than “AutoSub LR #1″ would have.Let people have fun, it doesn’t hurt anyone.
We need to get the mouth breathing idiots of this planet to pay attention to this highly preventable fucking disaster. Even if it takes giant pictures of naked women holdin’ PBR’s plastered to the sides of these research vessels.
Well, if we wouldn’t be talking about it if not for the stupid name of the submersible, maybe giving it a stupid name paid off in the end.
If you don’t want something named something stupid:1) don’t hold an internet poll2) if you do, limit voting to a list of pre-determined optionsIf you don’t follow those rules I think you’re actually kind of in the wrong for not following through with the name. Also, who cares? Don’t be a stuffy prude.
Im here only to express mi indignation on the hate on Boaty McBoatface, the best name ever…for a boat that is.
Hey, Boaty McBoatface didn’t do anything wrong. Just like that kid named Abcde, it didn’t get to choose its name.
That’s not a boatface. THIS IS A BOATFACE.
I’d still have preferred Significant Lack of Gravitas or something else named by an AI from The Culture.
Aww, there is that “It’s popular, so I now hate it” protohipster shitbaggery I come here for.
you should get your name changed to herpy mcderp face
That article tries a little too hard to be hipster with its “popular culture is bad” refrain. The ship’s name wasn’t overridden and then the sub was named as a concession. The ship didn’t get that name because, as they pointed out at the time, it was a ship. Not a boat. Popularizing science is a good thing, it doesn’t make society stupid and doomed.
You know life is a little more fun without that stick up your ass.unless that’s your thing, then lube a little more and go deeper.
The sad fact is, though, that Twitter and the majority of
publications—this one included—would not be talking about this discovery
had it not been made by an unmanned submarine with a very dumb and bad
name.
How is it a “very dumb and bad name” if it results in more publications talking about this discovery?Seriously, the ENTIRE GOAL of an initiative like having people name a boat was to engage the public in the science and this is EXACTLY what is happening.
It’s “very dumb and bad” only in the way a late era Picasso is “ugly”.
They should have called it Subby McSubmarine.
PNAS: NERC’s BMB finds RWE of ACC; notifies IPCC.
Because “Boaty McBoatface” is fucking stupidYou’re fucking stupid. Boaty McBoatface is a great name.
If this is what we need to do in order for people to pay attention to scientific crises, so be it. At least they’re paying attention.
How salty, lol. Last time I checked a lot of scientists actually have a sense of humour. Justice for RRS Boaty McBoatface and all her little boaty children.
Using the term Hoi Polloi correctly; You’re welcome to a British passport.
No worries. An unlikely character will defeat the Climate (Change) King in episode 3. THEN we’ll go on to impeach our uncouth ruler in the finale. David Hogg will then be appointed President by a random group (1%) with AOC as VP. Shuffle some chairs. Roll credits.
“This is indeed a major finding that deserves major coverage. The sad fact is, though, that Twitter and the majority of publications—this one included—would not be talking about this discovery had it not been made by an unmanned submarine with a very dumb and bad name. We are all as stupid as we are doomed.”Counterpoint: Bill Nye the Science Guy, Mythbusters and The Magic Schoolbus made more scientists than Nova, Popular Science and the whole rest of the Discovery Channel ever did put together. I base this on absolutely nothing, but science should be appealing and if it takes a few silly names, well, at least it makes you smile!
Well, “Milkshake Duck” could have been chosen as the name. Or “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Or even “Donald Trump.” I feel like out of all the possible scenarios (at least the ones I feel comfortable naming on public internet forum), Boaty McBoatface is cute and innocent and does what it says on the tin. He’s a boat who does boat things.