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Idle: New Species Named For SpongeBob SquarePants
An anonymous reader writes "Sing it with us: What lives in the rainforest, under a tree? Spongiforma squarepantsii, a new species of mushroom almost as strange as its cartoon namesake. Scientists from the San Francisco State University have discovered a new species of mushroom in Borneo with sponge-like properties. Its strange behavior convinced them to name it after the famous Bob. There is no word on whether or not their chances of getting future grant money will be improved by this choice." Did you know (prior to clicking on the Wikipedia link above) that SpongeBob was created by a marine biologist?
No, I can see why they chose that. SpongeBob's a fun guy.
/golfclap
Oh come on, let the guys just have some fun. If this leads you to question the sanity of the biologists involved, have a look at the gene naming schemata in Drosophila flies...
Let me just point at cheap date, a gene that imposes heightened alcohol sensitive on the flies; or perhaps the ken and barbie genes, mutations in which cause lack of external genitalia. Then there is superman, a mutation that causes extra male genitalia in the plant Arabidopsis. Naturally, it is suppressed by the kryptonite gene. Leaving the genitalia business, there is also embargo in Drosophila, a mutation in which stops nuclear export...
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
Come on, at least roughly translate it into Latin first.
If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
Even when I escape to the real world (the one that exists for a few hours when the children sleep and vulgar language is allowed), I can't escape mention of that little bastard whose only resemblance to a square is the fact that his faces (not the space where his annoying face-parts are, but rather the surface faces of the prism of his being) are quadrilaterals (rectangles, in fact).
What. The. Fuck.
I don't post AC. I like my -1, Flamebaits. Trump/Sheen 2012 on the Batshit Insane ticket!
No! My name is Patrick! I am not a Krusty Krab...
Linnaeus must be spinning in his grave just fast enough to clear the shark.
There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
Now what's wrong with latin? (ignoring the fact that squarepantsii is standard latinizing anyway). Personally, I feel it is a shame that today's scientists, including me, are not fluid in latin any more. I used to be, but lost all of it over the last one and a half decades.
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
We can start naming everything we discover after pop culture! EVERYTHING! We can even rename existing things after it.
Years in the future science symposiums will sound like a conversation between 7-year-old kids in the schoolyard.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with this picture.
Damn, biologists get all the cool names. Dear physicists at the LHC, when you find a new particle please consider naming it "Pikachu boson", a.k.a. "Pikachon". Don't let biologists win this one.
The state you are in while your HEAD is detached... - wait, what?
Yes I did know. I didn't even need to follow the wiki link. Not only is he a marine biologist, I believe he has a doctorate.
Also, if you pay attention to the show, Patrick the starfish comes back from a lump of starfish (regeneration). Mr. Krabs collects things (like real crabs! :O)
And the best of it all? They live in Bikini Bottom. Now where have you heard that before (besides the obvious outfit pun)?
Why Bikin Atoll of course! Where everyone and their grandma blewup nuclear warheads under the water. Now look at the houses in town.
Notice how they look an awful lot like missles? Everyone is talking and alive? It all starts to make a kind of sense now, doesn't it?
Also, Goo Lagoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzUEr7uMnXU For those of you who are familiar with the show may not have been aware of this.
-Shoe
and smells "vaguely fruity
Yeah, we already had our suspicions!
Did you know (prior to clicking on the Wikipedia link above) that SpongeBob was created by a marine biologist?
Did you know Ween wrote the title track to the Spongebob Squarepants movie?
When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
Does it live in a pineapple under the sea?
Or Smaug (can't remember what it does, but yes, it's named after the dragon), or MAD (Mothers Against Decapentapalegia, which, when mutated, produces limbless flies).
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
Wow, I had no idea that the Marines even had biologists. Whatever for?
Nate
And yet we take all the silly names made up in previous centuries as "well, that's just how they did things, and they needed a catchy name."
"Let me just point at cheap date, a gene that imposes heightened alcohol sensitive on the flies; or perhaps the ken and barbie genes, mutations in which cause lack of external genitalia. Then there is superman, a mutation that causes extra male genitalia in the plant Arabidopsis. Naturally, it is suppressed by the kryptonite gene. Leaving the genitalia business, there is also embargo in Drosophila, a mutation in which stops nuclear export..."
I see nothing wrong with any of those since they all make complete sense. I for one welcome our new rational-naming-scheme overlords
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
I know you're AC, but I have to comment. Greek and Roman mythology has been around for thousands of years. Spongeboob came out in 1999. Seriously you're putting a cartoon that's barely 10 years old up against Greek and Roman mythology? Oh right, AC troll, gotcha.
Also naming it after a children's cartoon shows the immaturity of the biologist. I didn't even know what Spongbob was until recently, when my wife, who was young enough to watch Spongebob growing up, introduced me to it. It's a good show but I wouldn't be naming mushrooms after it... unless I was on shrooms at the time and thought "DUDE! We should call it... SPONGEBOB!"
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
I think this is cool.. much like the "space object"* named after Frank Zappa.
/. company ;)
* Can't remember whether is was an asteroid, meteor, etc. and know I'd be utter flamebait for getting it wrong in
Didn't say that I see anything wrong with those. Just some geneticists having some fun while still making sense - isn't that the best kind? Personally, I come from the NMR spectroscopy business, so don't let me get started on the HOHAHA, HEHAHA and HIHAHA pulse sequences...
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
Smaug obviously is the supressor for nanos, the dwarf gene. (just for clarity, not made up - it's how it works, Smaugbinds the nanos mRNA).
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
OK. They never actually explained it in my developmental genetics classes, the prof just said, "Yes, it is a reference to The Hobbit."
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
my wife, who was young enough to watch Spongebob growing up,
Jesus tittyfucking Christ I feel old.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
No, I can see why they chose that. SpongeBob's a fun guy.
And that ends the thread, I'd have thought. What possible point is there in posting anything else? Bravo.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Perhaps we should fix that by teaching people about the muses instead of going on about spongebob, though...
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
Or "Pokemon", the original name for the Zbtb7 gene until Nintendo threatened to sue anyone who would name a gene related to cancer after one of its flagship franchises.
How could anyone write a lengthy article about a new mushroom without once mentioning what it tastes like?
If it is a proper shroom, it'll taste purple with a slight whiff of G-minor, of course.
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
Pikachurin is one of the retinal proteins.
Ditto!
--- If the bible proves the existence of God, then Superman comics prove the existence of Superman.
I know Nickelodeon is trying to educate kids with their programming but this little bit of trivia is not going to impress kids one iota. Just try to use the species name in an episode of this show and watch its ratings go down the toilet.