Videos
Podcasts
Blogs
Quizzes
GamesPosts Tagged: ‘April Fools’
If you’ve read one of the many prank-posts on the HowStuffWorks.com blogs today, you know it’s April Fool’s Day. We have a history here of indulging in fake stories — read last year’s prank about “How the Air Force One Hybrid Works.” But we’re not alone. In 1996, Taco Bell fooled the nation in what has got to be one of the all-time best April Fool’s jokes. The Museum of Hoaxes website tells how on April 1 of that year, the fast-food company issued a full-page ad in several major newspapers proclaiming that it had negotiated a deal to buy the Liberty Bell from the Federal Government to reduce the national debt.
If you’re looking for the real history of the day, we have an article that explains some of the possible origins of April Fool’s Day, but I wanted to go over a great prank about its history.
Permanent Kittens Flat-Out Refuse to Grow
by Charles W. Bryant | April 1, 2009
Just when you think you’ve seen it all comes a story from the “Felines: Out Of Love” society — a cat-loving genetic research group based out of The University of Wisconsin at Sheboygan. The scientists there have designed what they’re calling the “Permanent Kitten.” Yes, this is exactly what you think it is — felines that remain in a permanent state of arrested “kittenness.”
Genetic engineering has already enriched our produce isles with such wonders as the seedless watermelon and herbicide-resistant soybeans. Now, according to a study published this month in Nature Biotechnology, a team of plant geneticists at the University of California at Berkeley have come up with an alternative to organic produce: more banana peels.
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- Traveling on the Orient Express
- Deep-fried Goodness at Carnival
- The Colors of the Running of the Bulls
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Blow Your Mind: In the Lair of the Rat King
- Mandala: Memory Palace, Inception and Simulated Worlds
- Virgin Galactic: $200,000 Ticket to Ride
Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
- Amazing Medical Conditions: Maple Syrup Urine Disorder
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Was Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” Super Bowl commercial a little too political?
- Why is NASA studying car safety?
- Tips for in-car Navigation Systems
How-to Stuff
- How to Make the Most of a Gallery Crawl (When You’re on a Shoestring Budget)
- How to Swim with Dolphins (When Deep Water Terrifies You)
- How to Cure a Homemade Cookie Craving Without Turning on the Oven
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 40: Did movies ruin love?
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 39: Urban Legends
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 38: Defending Disney Princesses?
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics
