Beagles are adorable – unless you have to sit on one for 5 years

Its been almost 178 years since Charles Darwin set sail on the Beagle for what was expected, and in fact was in most obvious ways, a fairly ordinary trip to the south seas. Unlike his ship mates who brought back the usual, like shell art and grass skirts, Darwin came back with a head full of so many ideas it took him years to write them down. The result of which was one of the most significant discoveries of all time – the theory of evolution.

Now, because people just cant get enough of either super cute dogs – or sailing ships, a bunch of British and Dutch scientists, journalists and artists are going to retrace Darwins’ steps. Which should be tricky, partially because the Dutch and British have nearly no common sense of humour (so there aint gonna be no laughs on that boat) and partially because its hard to follow steps on water.

Fortunately the trip  is only going to take them 8 months this time and the whole things is going to be broadcast on the internet via Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and Flick. Naturally.

Why do I feel lie this is going to be less of a voyage of scientific (re)discovery and more of a floating, multilingual big brother house. What ever it is, it should be fun to follow.