Now that all the dust has settled from yesterday, and we can once again safely read news articles without fear of being pranked, it’s a great time to look back at this year’s 12 best science April Fools jokes. No, really!
12) Science video star and pioneer selfie documentarian Veritasium warned alerted the world that the planet’s equator is slipping south 25 kilometers a year.
11) APS’s own Physics highlighted the newfound benefits of carbon nanotubes in toothpaste.
10) The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced that it would be using the phone book to name all new asteroids discovered in the solar system.
9) The National Zoo’s new Sloth Cam (and hashtag) is riveting!
8) ThinkGeek, well known for their nerdy April Fools products, posted a steam-powered gaming console to the delight of steam punks everywhere. It’s a nice tie in also with our thermodynamics podcast from yesterday too.
7) For one day only, the National Air and Space Museum hosted Wonder Woman’s invisible jet.
6) Physics World called for adding an extra day to April so everyone else in the world can enjoy Pi Day like the United States.
5) Nature published the kind research we all get fired up about, the science of dragons!
4) Science published the latest, unsettling discovery from the messenger spacecraft. The planet Mercury is actually Hell.
3) Pretty much everything about yesterday’s Fermilab Today was an April Fools. They must have spent a long time on it.
2) Symmetry magazine announced that CERN finally perfected what we’ve all been waiting for: a real HOT TUB TIME MACHINE!
1) The undisputed champ this year was CERN itself. With the help of the LHC, scientists in Geneva confirmed the existence of The Force.
The reason that we fall for these April Fools pranks has to do with the power of suggestion, and just in time for the best holiday of the year, BrainCraft released a video explaining the science of why that is.