The best (or worst) day of the year is upon us again, and as we're on the internet, that means April Fool's Day lasts at least a week. Here are some of our favorite pranks for 2016 (constantly updated):
Tribble Tribulations
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum announced that it decided to breed tribbles in a program lasting 24 hours, starting at 12:01am EST on 1 April 2016:
Today’s tribble breeding pilot project is in celebration of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary. "After 50 years, we decided it was time to bring the tribble back! So, we worked with several specialized veterinary schools and zoos in order to create a special diet and then it was easy—we just fed them and let nature take its course," said Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, curator of the Museum’s Social and Cultural Dimensions of Spaceflight collection.
Its experiment, naturally, quickly went awry as the tribbles bred out of control, as they're wont to do:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/w2vug7gYiuE
Of course there was a live tribble cam:
https://video.ibm.com/channel/smithsonian-national-air-and-space-museum
The purring, fluffy creatures quickly exceeded expectations:
UPDATE: At press time, the number of tribbles has exceeded the Museum’s expectations and contingency plans are in effect. Dr. Weitekamp is unavailable for comment, and is working with contractor Cyrano Jones to acquire a supply of glommers, creatures specially designed to devour surplus tribbles. Preparations are also being made to transport excess specimens to the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park. Asked for comment, a Zoo spokesperson said that it would be “no tribble at all. How many could there be?”
Active Volcano Discovered Under the Great Smoky Mountains
VisitMySmokies.com had some fun with the day, posting a very thorough article about a new, active volcano that had been discovered in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, specifically beneath Mount LeConte, the tallest peak in Tennessee:
Just as the timeframe for Mount LeConte’s eruption remains unknown, the severity of a potential eruption is also contested. There is a good chance that an eruption from Mount LeConte would be relatively minor. The similarly sized volcano Bardarbunga in Iceland erupted from August 2014 – February 2015, which resulted in some air pollution but little lasting damage.
However, the size of a volcano is not always a reliable indicator of its eruptive impact. For instance, Mount Vesuvius was only 4,203 ft tall. Despite being nearly 2,400 feet shorter than Mount LeConte, this famous volcano unleashed a torrent of molten rock, fumes, and ash that released more thermal energy than a nuclear bomb and completely decimated Pompeii in 79 AD.
It was researched and detailed enough that it was completely believable, at least until the very end of the article:
For more information about the volcano, don’t check back here. This entire story has been an April Fools’ Day joke! There aren’t any volcanoes in the Great Smoky Mountains (that we know of), so you can breathe easy if you love to vacation in the area. To learn real facts about the Smokies, check out our Great Smoky Mountains National Park page.
Of course, not many people made it to the end of the piece, making this prank particularly effective.
Disney Bans Tattoos from Theme Parks
Tattoo lifestyle magazine Inked stirred the pot with an article that reported Disney wouldn't allow anyone into any of its theme parks if they were sporting visible tattoos:
Legally, Disney has the right to refuse entry to anyone they please because the parks are their private property. "While we respect individuals’ freedom of expression through tattoos, we do not think that ink has any place in the Magic Kingdom," Engañar told Inked. "For those who didn’t bring long sleeves or have neck tattoos we opened gift shops in front of our gates so that they can buy a Disney sweatshirt or scarf to cover their tattoos up before entering our theme parks."
If the date of publication didn't clue anyone in to the nature of the prank, the name of the so-called spokesperson (April Engañar) should have (April, of course, but "engañar" is a Spanish infinitive verb that means "to fool").
Steamy Scenes from Cornhub.com
Pornographic web site Pornhub.com generally has a very explicit front page, making no bones about what kind of content it houses. Today, however, its front page temporarily became Cornhub.com:
However, be warned: the corn thumbnails are all links to the regular site, so keep that in mind if you're browsing "hard shucking" or "steamy ears" at work.
Jamie Oliver's Placenta Pie
The celebrity chef got in on the April Fool's spirit by sharing a photo of a fake (probably) placenta pie on Instagram, inexplicably tagged "Essex Placenta" on a map:
Check out this new dish guys...Placenta Pie .... It's Super Delicious and Super Nutritious and placenta is defiantly the most Under used source of protein ethical sustainable and the great news is even Vegans and Vegetarians can enjoy it, for this recipe and 100 other placenta recipes go to jamieoliver.com big love jamie xx
Placenta dishes aren't unheard of, however, and are quite even popular in some circles.
The British Milk Council's Newest Product
Oh I dunno, off the top of my head, we now sell unicorn milk?
— BRITISH MILK COUNCIL (@BuyBritishMilk) April 1, 2016
Yes, but how does it taste? We'll never know, because the British Milk Council doesn't actually exist. Plus, unicorns are notoriously difficult to milk.
YouTube Unveils "SnoopaVision"
Have you ever wanted to experience the world like Snoop Dogg? Who hasn't? YouTube made it possible with "SnoopaVision," complete with working, interactive prototype 360-degree videos (all featuring the rapper and actor himself) and a projected launch date of 2043:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/DPEJB-FCItk
Ice Cream IQs
The Economist got in on the action, with statistical proof that ice cream makes you smarter, or at the very least makes you perform better on educational performance tests:
Ice cream consumption, it seems, has a strong relationship with reading ability, based on the OECD's PISA educational performance scores. Australia, for instance, scoffs 13 litres of gelato per year—more than any other country—and its children are among the most literate in the world. And it is not just sun-kissed states that show such a striking correlation. Finland, Canada and Sweden all top the PISA rankings and are avid consumers of frozen desserts. At the other end of the counter, an average Peruvian puts away barely a litre of the cold stuff each year and comes last in the rankings. Ice cream, it would appear, induces the opposite of “brain-freeze” in students.
The Economist was nothing if not thorough, noting that statistical anomalies exist within the data:
There are, of course, outliers. Suitably Chile (by name and nature) eats a large amount of ice cream, yet that has had a mysteriously small effect on literacy. In well-off Asian countries, by contrast, children are book-rich but ice-cream poor.
Drug-Sniffing Bunny
The Amherst Police Department announced the arrival of "Dusty" the Narcotics Detection Rabbit:
https://www.facebook.com/amherstpoliceny/posts/993968207361713
The Amherst Police Department is proud to introduce "Dusty", our new Narcotics Detection Rabbit. Due to the fact that... Posted by Amherst Police Department on Friday, April 1, 2016
