Photo via NOC
Boaty McBoatface—the infamous submarine that the internet voted to give a stupid-ass name—is setting off on its debut Antarctic expedition this week, Gizmodo reports.Originally, Boaty McBoatface was supposed to be, well, a boat after the UK's Natural Environmental Research Council decided to put the name of a new research ship in the hands of a public vote. When the public opted to go with something brain-bleedingly dumb, the British government decided to change things up.The boat was subsequently named after Sir David Attenborough—the satin-voiced narrator of Planet Earth, among other things. The name "Boaty McBoatface" was relegated to something less important, in this case, a small submarine, instead. It's that sub that is now making its maiden voyage into the wild beyond.The autonomous submarine named McBoatface is one of three long-range subs developed by the National Oceanography Center. It will set off on a mission to help map deep sea currents in Antarctica. The information will hopefully give some insight into how climate change is dicking around with the natural flow of the ocean.Seeing as how a former reality star runs America and the EPA is helmed by a dude who's one bad haircut away from being a Captain Planet villain, it's only appropriate that a stupidly named submarine is going to play a pivotal role in understanding climate change. This is our world now.Follow River Donaghey on Twitter.