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'Boaty McBoatface' polar ship named after David Attenborough
- planetjones 10y agoI think the name chosen is a good one and like David Attenborough himself, the boat's name will endure for a long time. However, what did the organisation (NERC) expect when they gave a free choice for the names of the boat. They would have been far better having a poll of say 5 names which had been pre-selected.
- fredley 10y agoHindsight is a wonderful thing.
- woodman 10y agoLet me direct your attention to the new soft drink: Hitler did nothing wrong. 4chan has been around for a while now.
- toyg 10y agoIndeed. TBH they were incredibly lucky to land an inoffensive name that sounded fun, and should have made the best of it. Alas, British upper class is not exactly the most dynamic bunch...
- dan1234 10y agoFTA: But why couldn't the main vessel itself have carried the name? Here's one reason: imagine the ship were to get into trouble at some point in the future. Imagine the headlines. Remember, the places it will work are extremely hostile; they are dangerous. I can sort of see the reasoning there. “4 dead after Boaty McBoatface sinks” would be a difficult headline to take seriously.
- DanBC 10y agoVs "Four dead after Sir David Attenborough Sinks?"
- Aeolos 10y ago"Sir David Attenborough lost with all hands." Boaty McBoatface was an awesome name. Such a missed opportunity...
- woodman 10y agoIf that is a serious concern then any kind of name outside of a serial number could look bad in a headline. "Attenborough caught dumping diesel, killing baby seals".
- tfm 10y agoAnother beautiful misdirect from the science correspondents :-) One might reasonably argue that the onus would be on the headline writers there to lend the appropriate gravitas. On the other hand ... there'd still be more publicity for the research programme. How much coverage was there for the prosaically named Ocean Researcher V when it sank, resulting in death of two researchers?
- JorgeGT 10y ago"Four dead after British research ships sinks"?
- lb1lf 10y ago-For that exact reason, Churchill instructed the SOE (Or, more probably, the armed forces in general, but it has been a while since I came across this anecdote) that whimsy or plain silly codenames for operations were OUT. He didn't want any widows to receive a letter stating that 'It is with utmost regret we inform you that your husband died heroically for the Empire during the execution of operation PINK UNDIES' or something of the sort. Makes a lot of sense.
- woodman 10y agoYou'll never be able to please everybody, just look at the WMO and their tropical storm naming methodology. I've actually heard someone complain about a perceived bias in the ethnicity of the names. You wouldn't even be able to use a true random number, because of tetraphobia [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia
- woodman 10y agoI'm surprised that they made no mention of Mister Splashy Pants [0]. Greenpeace went through the exact same thing, but stuck with the funny name - which turned out to be a really good move. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Splashy_Pants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Splashy_Pants
- nekopa 10y agoRegarding the good move, from the wikipedia article linked above: After their initial reluctance Greenpeace embraced the result of the popular vote and used the name at the center of its campaign. The added publicity, at no cost to Greenpeace, gave it enough impact to convince the Japanese government, and the plan to hunt Humpback whales was abandoned in December 2007 Now that is a great result.
- dingaling 10y agoI'm not convinced on the choice of name; Sir David Attenborough has already received many honours and appears to have received this nomination because (1) he is famous as a broadcaster and (2) is popular as a person, seemingly being of a mild and pleasant character. So they cleverly side-stepped the Boaty issue by picking a name to which people can't object without being accused of picking on a "nice" 90-year-old man. I don't think that's a good basis for a naming policy. I'm sure there are many publicly-anonymous actual research scientists who could have received this honour instead and BIS / NERC could still have thrown the Boaty-as-ROV bone to the voters.
- tonyedgecombe 10y agoIt really isn't that important.
- sandworm101 10y agoTo see your name on a large ship you need to be old. It's the sort of thing for people who are well into retirement, if not recently deceased. Pick someone younger and you may look foolish should they become involved in something later. Given the public nature of the naming, they also want to go with someone popular. So they want an older person, who the public knows, and that has a history of doing something for the environment. Nobody else covers those three areas like Attenborough.
- humanrebar 10y ago> Pick someone younger and you may look foolish should they become involved in something later. Old men develop new scandals. Joe Paterno. Bill Cosby. Various Catholic bishops and cardinals. If you're worried about bad press, better pick people who have been dead for some time.
- sandworm101 10y agoThe dead aren't as popular. Most famous people die 10-20 years after the public stopped watching them. So it's hard to find someone dead but still currently famous. Attenborough is that rare breed of famous person who is still active and respected at 89. Kids and grandparents alike know his name. Even Cosby, with all his infamy, is not recognized by teenagers because he stepped off the main stage long ago.
- duncanawoods 10y agoYou could argue that the purpose of the public poll wasn't really to name a ship but to raise awareness of NERC which it did in spades.
- Grue3 10y agoThey didn't know the poll would leak out to the general public. Also they didn't say the winner necessarily will be chosen, they chose 4th place, and the name they thought was the most fitting, which is completely reasonable.
- simonh 10y agoNaming one of the remote drones 'Boaty' heads off people calling the ship 'Boaty' as a nickname. I wonder if that's why they did it.
- alblue 10y agoThe remotely operated vehicle has been named BoatyMcBoatface instead: https://twitter.com/NERCscience/status/728508385692418048 https://twitter.com/NERCscience/status/728508385692418048
- ojii 10y agoBut that should've been called DroneyMcDroneface. It's not a boat!
- boothead 10y agoBut a submarine is classified as a boat...
- alblue 10y agoActually in naval terminology a "boat" is a vessel that can be carried by another vessel (eg life boat). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boat https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boat Though frankly I think RemoteyMcBoatface would be good here :-)
- ojii 10y agoWell TIL. Thanks. Also amazing suggestion.
- arethuza 10y agoWhat about submarines - aren't they referred to as "boats"?
- vlehto 10y agoDuring WWII there was somewhat surprizigly unified ship classification and there was hardly any civillian submarines at the time. It was based on tonnage, speed and main gun calibre. Anything smaller than 1000 tons was a boat. Interwar German submarines we're around 500 - 1000 tons, so they we're called "u-boot". Since WWII names stuck by role of ship. Now we have all kinds of propaganda pieces floating around and ship classification names don't mean anything anymore. A "frigate" might be anything except oil tanker or CATOBAR carrier. If you would use WWII classification by top speed and tonnage and apply it to modern vessels, Ohio class submarine would be "Submarine Heavy Cruiser" and Typhoon would be "Submarine Battleship".
- sschueller 10y agoSir David Attenborough should have his legal name (or at least his twitter handle :)) changed to 'Sir Boaty McBoatface'. Then see what happens...
- nekopa 10y agoMaybe just Sir David 'McBoatface' Attenborough.
- braythwayt 10y ago> In a stunning move, Buckingham Palace announces > that the former David Attenborough will now be > known as “Sir Naturalist McNatureface, OBE."
- x5n1 10y agoThey should have just gone with it, and said the people have spoken. It would have been good for morale, because everyone would have a smile on their face every time they said the name in a British accent.
- distances 10y agoI disagree. I think it's fine to disregard juvenile name suggestions, and the supposed disappointment in the Internet will be forgotten in a couple of days.
- aavotins 10y agoIf so, then why did they offer the juvenile public a chance in the first place? It's not like nobody expected shenanigans
- InclinedPlane 10y ago"Juvenile", oh please. There's miles of difference between juvenile and irreverent. Keep in mind that a multi-million dollar reusable rocket stage just landed on a ship named "Of Course I Still Love You". "Boaty McBoatface" isn't such a bad name, but the rejection of the name is indicative of a very substantial cultural divide.
- Nimitz14 10y ago> supposed disappointment in the Internet will be forgotten in a couple of days. Everything will be at some point. That's not an argument.
- techterrier 10y agoBORING
- duaneb 10y ago> I think it's fine to disregard juvenile name suggestions, and the supposed disappointment in the Internet will be forgotten in a couple of days. Along with the ship itself.
- 10y ago
- siddboots 10y agoGood choice, and also a great way for the organisation to get out of a tough PR situation. Literally no-one dislikes David Attenborough.
- danieltillett 10y agoI think there are some on the right that do due to his support of science.
- lagadu 10y agoI dislike DA for being involved, even if involuntarily, in the McBoatFace fiasco :) OK, I don't but that would ruin the joke.
- stevetrewick 10y agoBlack swan. I dislike him. He's a staunch proponent of population control and patron of Population Matters a group which amongst other things campaigns for net zero immigration. His undeniably impressive professional oeuvre has a carbon footprint like a charcoal yeti making some of his environmental preachiness quite hypocritical. I still like his programs, though.
- orthecreedence 10y agoCurious, I can understand not liking him for supporting/speaking at an organization you dislike, but what's wrong with the idea of population control? So many of our problems could be fixed by limiting the population of the human race. To be clear, I'm not proposing a solution for doing so nor am I saying the ends would justify the means for how this is reached. However can you not agree that climate change, pollution, resource shortages, etc are caused by having too many people on this planet? This is especially true if people in first-world countries want to continue their lives of excess. The only reason to keep growing in population is to add fuel to the economic fire, so to speak. This is not a sustainable trend though.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- sccxy 10y agoGood outcome from this naming campaign >We're building on the #BoatyMcBoatface spirit with a £1m Polar Explorer programme to inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers https://twitter.com/JoJohnsonMP/status/728499945402204160 https://twitter.com/JoJohnsonMP/status/728499945402204160
- ck2 10y agoWe need to quit naming things after people in the first place, it's always egotistical and political.
- _Marak_ 10y agoI'm disappointed. If an organization decides to use a social media contest like this to promote themselves, they should have a social responsibility to adhere to the demands of the people. "Boaty McBoatface" was a good name.
- samsolomon 10y agoI don't know. It feels like a missed opportunity to excite kids about research. Can't you just see the series of children's books about Boaty McBoatface and all the incredible science adventures it has—a Magic School Bus 2.0? Many people taking themselves too seriously. It's a shame.
- nness 10y agoI would hope stories about Sir David Attenborough would stir a more adventurous spirit in kids than a funnily named boat.
- nekopa 10y agoI think the funny name would spark the interest. But then again, why not have both? I think a drone called Boaty McBoatface could get into all kinds of crazy trouble, only to be bailed out by the wise old mothership, Sir David Attenborough. Could actually work out really well. I may just have to start working on my new kids book series "Curious Boaty, the cheeky little ROS (Remotely Operated Submarine)" - with related merchandise, a toy ROS with HD video and sampling claw that can be operated from your Android or iOS phone/tablet
- threeseed 10y agoThis is what I can't understand. There are so many research vessels. Can't one at least be fun, playful and a little bit ridiculous. People are desperately trying to tell institutions (not just in this situation but also in politics) that being honest and more connected with the ordinary person on the street is a virtue.
- nekopa 10y agoTrue, but, if we are being honest, only 150,000 odd people voted for it, so it might not represent the ordinary person on the street. But, for the UK at least, I think it would connect with a lot of people, and for a longer time. Unfortunately, sometimes we take our selves too seriously. Especially when millions of monetary units are involved...
- rectang 10y agoDisappointing. It's as if UC Santa Cruz had chosen "Sea Lions" over "Banana Slugs". http://www.ucsc.edu/about/mascot.html http://www.ucsc.edu/about/mascot.html
- orthecreedence 10y agoFrom what I heard, they tried to change it a while ago and were met with severe backlash. Banana Slugs is so much more interesting and disarming than some typical predatory animal. Nobody will ever forget UCSC's mascot.
- mherdeg 10y agoWow! Big year for Leicester!
- JorgeGT 10y agoGood luck selling plushies, apparel, comics or animated cartoons of lil' fun Sir David Attenborough! Now instead of having the dream name for science outreach and awareness for kids, you have a stark, cynical lesson on democracy.
- cm2012 10y agoIf they kept the name, they would have had positive public attention for years. Now they get nothing...
- JorgeGT 10y agoEverytime they visited a port could have been, "Hey, Boaty McBoatface is coming to port this Saturday! Why don't you bring your kids to a fun science tour?". This is probably the first time that an open Internet poll has finally chosen a name that is fun and kid-friendly instead of "Hitler did nothing wrong" and they have decided to waste all the PR potential.
- gaius 10y ago"Adults don't take this seriously and neither should you" I'm being downvoted for this but trust me, that is the message teenagers would takeaway from the name Boaty McBoatface.
- tombrossman 10y agoI'll upvote because it's a fair point but I think it could use more nuance. Here's an example: "The scientists on this ship have a sense of humour and are fun people" meaning that while they take the science seriously, the are approachable and not too worried about what you call their ship. Also, Sir David Attenborough is a national treasure and while I would have preferred the funny name, this is a very solid alternative.
- liveoneggs 10y agowho cares what teenagers think?
- whyleyc 10y agoIt's almost as if representative democracy of this kind is a complete sham. It's a good job this kind of ridiculous situation doesn't crop up here on HN from our YC overlords ! Wait, what. [1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11633517 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11633517
- jamesrcole 10y agoCorrect me if I'm wrong, but didn't the initial description of the initiative explicitly say that they wouldn't simply be using votes and would still use their own discretion to make the final judgements?
- david927 10y agoWhat are you talking about? Neither is a representative democracy. They don't have to do anything. Both simply appealed to the public as an experiment and learned that a large swath of the public feels it has no power and finds it empowering, now that they finally have their hands on the steering wheel, to flip the car rather than drive it. Children who haven't been given much autonomy will often have the same mentality: when finally given power they will be destructive because it's a better test of the reality of the new-found power.
- whyleyc 10y agoOk, so maybe "representative democracy" (in a strict political sense) was bad terminology to use, but my point is that both experiments set themselves up with a veneer of democracy only for that to come crumbling down when they didn't like the answers they got.
- smoyer 10y agoThis just in ... In a surprise move, Sir David Attenborough legally changes his name to Boaty McBoatface in support of the Internet hordes. Facing waning popularity, this maneuver is seen as a means of returning to the cult-icon status days he experienced as a broadcaster. When asked for comment, Sir McBoatface stated "I'm a few days short of my ninetieth birthday and let's face it - once I'm gone nobody's going to remember a name like Attenborough. As Boaty McBoatface, my name will actually be remembered. Would you like fries with that?"
- daimyoyo 10y agoIf they wanted to name the boat after someone like Attenborough that's great but why open the vote to the public and then ignore the most popular choice?
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- TheCraiggers 10y agoWhen will they learn that holding an online poll to name stuff is never, ever a good idea. They should count themselves lucky the winning entry was work-safe. Although I still feel that if you're going to go through with it you should stick with the results. Silly people.
- transfire 10y agoAnd lo it is proven... the government does not listen to the people.
- pjc50 10y agoI think people are underestimating the popularity of David Attenborough - to many people in the UK he is the face, and especially voice, of TV naturalism, and has been for decades.
- dzdt 10y agoBeing named Boaty McBoatface would have been such a great icebreaker for starting outreach discussions. A ship like this one needs a great icebreaker sometimes.
- mtgx 10y agoAnd the boat was never to be heard from again (in the media).
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- genmon 10y agoThey should have called it Pinboard
- pyython 10y agoNo justice in this world.
- f4stjack 10y agoThey can name it whatever they want, that ship has been recorded as "Boaty McBoatface" to my memory. Also really kudos to them, Boaty McBoatface made everyone smile when they heard the name and got them interested; Sir David Attenborough however... doesn't make that effect.
- goffley3 10y agoIs it too much just let the internet have its candy? Just this once, when it's completely innocuous.
- stronglikedan 10y agoAs another comment mentioned, it appears that it's already had its candy[0]. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Splashy_Pants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Splashy_Pants
- randac 10y agoThat's great... but meanwhile, he's being downvoted for doing exactly the same as you; sharing his opinion. Stay classy, HN.
- fossuser 10y agoI suspect he's being downvoted both because HN users disagree and also because he's stating his opinion as if it's obvious fact.
- randac 10y agoShould I quote everyone else stating their opinion as obvious fact? If you disagree you shouldn't just downvote regardless.
- hartpuff 10y ago> he's being downvoted both because HN users disagree Which is probably the usual reason people downvote. And it's a shit reason. Downvoting (ie, trying to bury or hide a post) because someone says sumfing u don't wike is pathetic and childish; if you disagree either argue against it or move on. Downvotes (if they have to exist) should be reserved for posts that are objectively non-constructive (as in posts that don't make any argument, whether you agree with it or not, or add anything to a discussion).
- dragonwriter 10y ago> objectively non-constructive "non-constructive" is always subjective, so this is an oxymoron.
- hartpuff 10y ago(as in posts that don't make any argument, whether you agree with it or not, or add anything to a discussion) Let's say someone here posts "fuck off" or "you're an idiot". Please explain how that can be interpreted as constructive to a discussion here. Edit: Wow, people who childishly downvote certainly don't like to be called out about their childish downvoting. :)
- sbmassey 10y agoGoofy names are usually fun for about 5 minutes, but quickly become seriously annoying if you have to use them continually. I imagine the same is true for ship names as for naming classes or functions.
- swamp40 10y agoIf voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it. ~ Mark Twain (apocryphal)
- delecti 10y ago"Boaty McBoatface" was just irreverent enough without being offensive that it should have been a perfect choice to gain a bunch of free publicity.
- quocble 10y agoEveryone: let's go with the most boring name possible. it's who we are!
- jordanb 10y agoThe cute name wasn't suitably distinguished so instead they named it after a television personality..
- jonathankoren 10y agoAm I just wrong in thinking that it's a relatively new phenomenon to name things after living people?
- pessimizer 10y agoThank God that this boat was named after a television host rather than a whimsy chosen by the public. I guess "seriousness" was a choice between terminally ill children and entertainers. Couldn't find a scientist?
- timthorn 10y agoDavid Attenborough has a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University. No one in England would characterise him as an entertainer - he is well regarded both in front and behind the camera as a science communicator, and was responsible as the head of BBC2 for commissioning a vast range of science television programming.
- quadyeast 10y agoThis always cracks me up and I don't know why.
- unlinker 10y agoFor some time, iirc, it was about to be called Blas de Lezo.
- sgnelson 10y agoIf nothing else, I must say that reading through this thread, I now understand much better why I've always thought the world can be such a sad place; There are way too many people who apparently have no sense of humor.