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New Insect Species Purchased On EBay

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-a-bargain dept.

SpuriousLogic writes "A scientist who bought a fossilized insect on the web auction site eBay for £20 has discovered that it belongs to a previously unknown species of aphid. The bug has been named Mindarus harringtoni after the scientist."

2 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. Re:How the aphid must feel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    get with times, man!
    it's instantrimshot.com these days

  2. Re:To answer my own question: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Check which professions require you to wear a tie and have some level of grooming.

    Biologists? Yes.

    Physicists? No (though if you wear a tie with a 70s style suit and it is in really bad taste, you will probably be forgiven, especially if your beard is unkept).

    Physicists can get away with this type of behavior because people think that you have to be a little nuts to be a physicist. The same applies to mathematics and to a lesser degree for geology. It shouldn't surprise you that physicists can get away with crazy names while many other sciences are required to stick to Latin.

    And in the odd case where a physicist's naming convention is challenged, all the physicist has to do is try to explain it. Half an hour later with a board full of equations, the management type will crawl out of the room in frustration.