The Exciting Lives of Scientists

Long story, but I found an article about a natural science museum in London. Here's to science with a sense of humor:

There is a genus of clam called Abra. So inevitably, in 1957, when they identified a new species within that genus, two scientists proposed the name cadabra. A few years later, scientists decided that "Abra cadabra" more correctly belonged to the genus Theora, and, says Fortey sadly, "there is nothing very entertaining about Theora cadabra"

I'm with you Fortey. Screw correct classification-I wanna laugh at my mollusks!

Quentin Wheeler, keeper of entomology, and a colleague named a series of slime-mould consuming beetles after the US administration: Agathidium bushi, A rumsfeldi, and A cheyneyi. He also named one after Darth Vader. One day he received a phone call that began "This is the president of the United States." He was about to answer "Oh yes? Well this is Darth Vader . . ." when he realised it actually was the president of the United States, who claimed to feel honoured to be immortalised in beetle nomenclature.

Err....call Bush "scum" and he'll probably get mad. Call him a "scum-sucking beetle" and he'll personally call and thank you.