The Internet Chose The Funniest Name For This Research Organization's Ship

The Internet made it possible for people to collaborate, mobilize and come together with people all over the world like never before, and in a perfect world, we'd use this power to bring society closer to the utopia we all dream of living in.

Unfortunately, the world is far from perfect, and putting your trust in the people of the Internet is always a risky move -- a lesson Mountain Dew learned when it asked the general public to name its new drink, and "Hitler did nothing wrong" became the most popular choice.

Based on examples like that, you'd think Britain's Natural Environment Research Council would have avoided using an online poll to gather suggestions for the name of a $287 million polar research vessel set to launch in 2019.

Based on the results, I couldn't be happier it did, though.

Since opening up the poll, the NERC received submissions involving pun-centric names, such as "Usain Boat" and "Clifford the Big Red Boat," but there's one suggestion that became the favorite after accruing more than 27,000 votes: the "RRS Boaty McBoatface."

The name was initially proposed by a former BBC presenter named James Hand, who since publicly apologized for ever suggesting it in the first place.

However, the final name will be chosen by a NERC panel, who (for some reason) would reportedly prefer to name the boat after a famous explorer or geographically relevant landmark.

We can only hope they make the correct decision, and I would like to officially offer to send the people of NERC a bottle of expensive champagne, under the condition they only use it to christen the Boaty McBoatface a few years from now.

Citations: Boaty McBoatface: Man behind name suggestion for £200m research vessel apologises 'profusely' (Independent)