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A Scientist Is Selling the Right To Name His Newly-Discovered Moth On eBay (vice.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the there-are-some-who-call-it-tim dept.

sarahnaomi writes: An entomologist has decided to use eBay to auction off the naming rights for a newly-discovered species of moth. When a new species is discovered, the honor of naming it goes to whoever found it. However, Eric H. Metzler, an entomologist from the Wedge Entomological Foundation, decided to ask Western National Parks Association—who funded some of his research—to start an online auction and take the proceeds. “It’s getting harder and harder to get funding to do this research because it’s not seen as a priority in the way it used to be, even though it’s fundamental to our understanding of biodiversity,” says Paolo Viscardi, a curator at University College London’s Grant Museum. “Any mechanism where you can raise more funds to continue your work is taken—so I guess [auctioning of the naming rights] is another way to fund your research.”

31 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Better than I'd hoped by Zibodiz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I clicked this article, expecting to shake my head in disgust. Instead, that actually sounds like a pretty good idea for funding research. Bravo to Metzler for putting his pride second to his research.

    1. Re:Better than I'd hoped by alzoron · · Score: 1

      It says (or at least very strongly implies) the money isn't for him and is to further research right there in the summary...

    2. Re:Better than I'd hoped by gnupun · · Score: 3, Informative

      Why in heaven's name would this inspire disgust.

      You don't want some idiot's surname on a species just because he had money considering we'll be stuck with that name for centuries.

      If he had sold the name rights for a "limited time" (and slashdotters do love that particular phrase) of say life+100 years, no one would mind. But naming rights for perpetuity is a really bad idea because the public will be stuck using a stupid name that had nothing to do with the characteristics of the insect but rather the greed of the scientist discovering it.

      Imagine every newly discovered animal, insect and tree named after a wealthy individual or corp... that's truly disgusting. I would rather the govt reward the scientist for his discovery or at least fund his research somehow.

    3. Re:Better than I'd hoped by Translation+Error · · Score: 2

      You don't want some idiot's surname on a species just because he had money considering we'll be stuck with that name for centuries.

      Why not? How is having it named after someone willing to fund further research worse than having it named after someone who happened to officially discover it? Also note that according to the auction, 'Mr. Metzler will work directly with the winning bidder to choose an official name which must be Latinized,' so it doesn't sound like the winner will have carte blanche (and I imagine the Commission of Zoological Nomenclature can veto truly terrible names, too).

      --
      When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    4. Re:Better than I'd hoped by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      "You don't want some idiot's surname on a species just because he had money considering we'll be stuck with that name for centuries."

      But after centuries, or even a decade or so, who will remember the ephemeral people who bought those names? If they want to pay a lot for a shot at ersatz immortality, then so be it.

      We might also try for species-appropriate naming. Imagine a scorpion called Centruroides trumpii or a primate, Hylobates fiftycentus

    5. Re:Better than I'd hoped by Crowd+Computing · · Score: 1

      Maybe the insects will object, but I don't mind naming moths after idiots. Besides I'm pretty sure there are common codes of decency that will prevent the use of really disgusting names with, say, embedded insults or four letter words.

    6. Re:Better than I'd hoped by mobby_6kl · · Score: 2

      Speaking of terrible names, let's set up a kickstarter to buy out the naming rights and name it Goatsemus Maximus or something.

    7. Re:Better than I'd hoped by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      If you feel so strongly in the support of this science, maybe you should give money to your local research college instead of complaining that nobody is funding this research.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    8. Re:Better than I'd hoped by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      You don't want some idiot's surname on a species just because he had money considering we'll be stuck with that name for centuries.

      If he had sold the name rights for a "limited time" (and slashdotters do love that particular phrase) of say life+100 years, no one would mind. But naming rights for perpetuity is a really bad idea because the public will be stuck using a stupid name that had nothing to do with the characteristics of the insect but rather the greed of the scientist discovering it.

      Imagine every newly discovered animal, insect and tree named after a wealthy individual or corp... that's truly disgusting. I would rather the govt reward the scientist for his discovery or at least fund his research somehow.

      Uh... you do realize that's how it's done now, right?

      I mean, you have insects named after Stephen Colbert, George Bush, Pope John Paul II, Barack Obama, etc.

      In fact, Wikipedia has such a list handy!. There's a website tracking this as well.

      It's already done right now. Sometimes it's for celebrity status. other times, it's done as an insult to the person.

      And sometimes, it's named after the scientist's offspring.

  2. The flame of money burns bright by fragMasterFlash · · Score: 2

    And we all know how moths feel about that.

  3. Golden Palace Casino Must Buy The Naming Rights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This sounds like the perfect bid for GoldenPalace.com, which has a history of bidding on odd or unusual items as part of their marketing strategy. In fact, they have bid in the past on the scientific naming privileges for a new species of primate discovered in the Amazon basin among other strange items including a partially eaten grilled cheese sandwich with the likeness of a religious figure and a haunted cane to name just a couple. So, if anyone from Golden Palace is still listening, do this scientist a good turn and buy this so that he can continue his research. Thanks.

  4. Fundamental my ass by Oligonicella · · Score: 2

    I may be IT by profession but I'm an entomologist by degree. Discovering a new species of moth is fringe, not fundamental. Calling it so is no more than an attempt to "raise more funds". While it is interesting to find new species, they are now very low population (especially in the US) and have a very minor influence on the ecology.

  5. Only one possible Name. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    MOTHERA!

    1. Re:Only one possible Name. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Aww, so close.

      Alternate comment: Dr Freud will see you now.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  6. GZXsiuJkhKJHkuyIUHkjiuiu273IUHiuy98Gjw7&7%^gjh by robi5 · · Score: 2

    ...kjhwekfhciu876*&^8gjHGJt&T*&hjhVJHjhgj^*&*fjhjhbkjhpjvhgd

    Doubles as a password.

  7. Exploit of an entomologist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I bid for: moth'); DROP TABLE Insects; --

  8. Re: This is what happens by Maritz · · Score: 1

    I think you're confusing his research with you. I care about his research, as I do anything that increases the scope of human knowledge. I don't care about you, or your stupid, ignorant, fucking dumb opinions. His research is cool. You're a prick. Pretty simple really.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  9. Re:ebay moth by Maritz · · Score: 1

    That won't be a smart name when it's merely the first of fifty 'ebay moths'.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  10. Brace for the crowdfunded internet win! by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

    Set different names for different brackets. The higher up the cash goes, the more offensive the name gets.

  11. Re:GZXsiuJkhKJHkuyIUHkjiuiu273IUHiuy98Gjw7&7%^ by imac.usr · · Score: 1

    Well not any more it doesn't.

    --
    I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
  12. Re:He must be a Republican by Wycliffe · · Score: 2

    This is what they do.

    This is modded as a -1 for flamebait but I have to ask. Why is this a bad idea? You want to continue your research and you thought of an ingenious way to bring in some much needed money. Kudos to you. The article says that the winning bidder gets to work with the scientist on naming so it sounds like he is retaining some amount of veto power. The only thing I might change is give him the option of not necessarily picking the highest bidder if the 2nd or 3rd highest bidder had a more reasonable name.

  13. Re:He must be a Republican by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    I'm a Republican, and if I needed research funds for my obscure moth project, that's exactly what I would do.

    Naming rights build football stadiums, so why shouldn't they fund scientific research? If we auctioned off naming rights to those features on Pluto and Charon that New Horizons just imaged, imagine how much money we could raiseP

  14. Turn on the porch lights at night; by buck-yar · · Score: 1

    There's no way science knows about all the different moths that arrive. There will be maybe 10,000 moths and none of them look the same.

  15. Re: He must be a Republican by silentcoder · · Score: 2

    Dude... that scene in fight club about planet McDonalds was supposed to be horrifying not inspirational.

    --
    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  16. There's an app for that by kreyszig · · Score: 1

    Well - a website: http://biopat.de/

    1. Re:There's an app for that by kreyszig · · Score: 1

      more specfically: http://biopat.de/artenkatalog-...

  17. Re:He must be a Republican by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    It is labeled as flaimbait because of the subject line, attributing this behavior to Republicans.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  18. Re:He must be a Republican by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    Actually, naming rights go to the team, not to the city that built the stadium. It is free money to the sports team. Sad but true.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  19. Re: This is what happens by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    If you care so much about this guy's research, feel free to throw money at it. Demanding that everyone pay for the research, when you apparently are unwilling to support it is kind of silly.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  20. Re:Right? by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    Quartering soldiers in peace time? I don't know if you really need concern yourself with that one anymore.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  21. I didn't think you could sell rights by mark-t · · Score: 1

    I would imagine that he retains the rights, but rather is selling a promise to name it whatever the winning bidder wants.

    So, however much this guy's word is worth, which may be negative, plus whatever it is worth to somebody to get to choose what to name something is actually how much one should bid.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'