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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.”

10 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 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.

    2. 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).

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    3. 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.

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

    And we all know how moths feel about that.

  3. 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.

  4. GZXsiuJkhKJHkuyIUHkjiuiu273IUHiuy98Gjw7&7%^gjh by robi5 · · Score: 2

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

    Doubles as a password.

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

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

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

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