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Online Voters Name British Vessel 'Boaty McBoatface' (telegraph.co.uk)
Britain's Natural Environment Research Council conducted an online poll to select the name for their new advanced polar research vessel. Though it cost more than 200 million pounds and represents their fleet's largest and most advanced research vessel, when the voting closed yesterday the clear winner, was the name 'Boaty McBoatface'. The name received over 124,000 votes, while the nearest runner-up -- Poppy-Mai -- received just 34,371, and the fourth-most popular suggestion, "RRS It's Bloody Cold Here," received just 10,679 votes. "I am grateful to everyone who has participated in the competition," Britain's science minister told The Daily Telegraph, though he added "You won't be surprised to know that we want something that fits the mission and captures the spirit of scientific endeavor." The Telegraph takes this as a signal that the ministers "were unlikely to endorse the result."
I think Boaty McBoatface is the best name they could have received. Do they understand how many kids will be attracted to that name? I could see this being a great way to get kids interested in polar science. It will always be Boaty McBoatface to me!
Can I say the RRS It's Bloody Cold Here has the ring of a Culture ship and would make a nice epitaph for one of the finest science fiction authors of the last fifty years. Given the poll options though, I'd like to suggest the GCU Experiencing a Significant Gravitas Shortfall instead.
I had a dream, bright and carefree, but now there's doubt and gravity
But sometimes the results are rather amusing.
Boaty McBoatface is hardly the worst that the internet could have put forward. If you don't want to accept the possibility of a silly name winning, why bother to have the poll at all?