Oct 18, 2021 07:01 PM
https://futurism.com/scientists-gross-uranus-jokes
INTRO: Uranus is a fascinating place. Planetary scientists are captivated by the ice giant’s unusual methane-rich atmosphere, sporadic weather, and magnetic field that interacts with the Sun all the way from its distant orbit.
And, unfortunately, it also has a name that lends itself really well to dirty jokes. It can be pronounced either “urine-us” or “your-anus,” both of which open up endless possibilities for potty humor.
“NASA Data Shows Something Leaking Out of Uranus,” read one Futurism headline that resonated with readers last year. Scientists have also miscellaneously found that Uranus expels gas, harbors mysterious fluids, and forms puzzling “mushballs.” In some cases, it feels impossible to avoid sounding risqué, even if you try.
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The phenomenon might be sophomoric, but it raises an intriguing question: what do the scientists who’ve dedicated academic careers to studying Uranus make of all this crude humor?
“I think at first I found it quite frustrating,” Lancaster University researcher Chris Arridge told Futurism. “There was a little bit of that ‘We’re doing serious stuff here,’ and we’re trying to push for a mission to a really scientifically interesting place. And in some sense, the butt jokes — do they devalue that in some sense? Does it make it less likely that you end up with a new space mission to study somewhere that many of us who study planets think is a really important piece of the puzzle to understanding our solar system?”
Arridge said that he’s gradually softened up on the jokes, but he also raised an alarming possibility: that lowbrow humor about the planet could undermine public funding for genuine research into it. “Ultimately the public pays the vast majority of this work,” Arridge said. “The public is invested and the public is a major stakeholder. So it’s a little bit symbiotic. If your stakeholder thinks it’s a big joke, I think that can be a concern for some people.” (MORE)
INTRO: Uranus is a fascinating place. Planetary scientists are captivated by the ice giant’s unusual methane-rich atmosphere, sporadic weather, and magnetic field that interacts with the Sun all the way from its distant orbit.
And, unfortunately, it also has a name that lends itself really well to dirty jokes. It can be pronounced either “urine-us” or “your-anus,” both of which open up endless possibilities for potty humor.
“NASA Data Shows Something Leaking Out of Uranus,” read one Futurism headline that resonated with readers last year. Scientists have also miscellaneously found that Uranus expels gas, harbors mysterious fluids, and forms puzzling “mushballs.” In some cases, it feels impossible to avoid sounding risqué, even if you try.
Advertisement
The phenomenon might be sophomoric, but it raises an intriguing question: what do the scientists who’ve dedicated academic careers to studying Uranus make of all this crude humor?
“I think at first I found it quite frustrating,” Lancaster University researcher Chris Arridge told Futurism. “There was a little bit of that ‘We’re doing serious stuff here,’ and we’re trying to push for a mission to a really scientifically interesting place. And in some sense, the butt jokes — do they devalue that in some sense? Does it make it less likely that you end up with a new space mission to study somewhere that many of us who study planets think is a really important piece of the puzzle to understanding our solar system?”
Arridge said that he’s gradually softened up on the jokes, but he also raised an alarming possibility: that lowbrow humor about the planet could undermine public funding for genuine research into it. “Ultimately the public pays the vast majority of this work,” Arridge said. “The public is invested and the public is a major stakeholder. So it’s a little bit symbiotic. If your stakeholder thinks it’s a big joke, I think that can be a concern for some people.” (MORE)
