Mrs. Tracker just dropped by the mess I call an office, giggling. She’d been watching Martha Stewart on TV. The home decor and resourcefulness authority was extolling the wonders of a very rare and odd looking tree (think Baobab) that is hanging on in South Africa. She said because it cost so much due to being endangered and all, she had one sawed sensibly into very thin pieces so she could make the most of it. She crafted a table top. And there it sat. The best part, she told her guests, it’s edible. So they all pulled pieces off the table and nibbled away.
The laughter followed as it dawned that this is, after all, the first of April. Like The Who told us long ago, don’t get fooled again.
Well…in the spirit of this widely observed non holiday, the AP‘s Seth Borenstein put a good one on the wire: To scientists, laughter is no joke — it’s serious. In fact, it says here, most laughter does not come in response to something that is overtly funny (anyway, most April Fool pranks aren’t so much funny as cruel or mischievous). To the point, laughter tends to be a social punctuation – jokes might be involved but don’t assume so. The news has a vaguely familiar feel – some of its elements were reflected in news about a year ago and posted upon here.
Still, pretty good judgment on when to revisit and expand the topic.
Pic source ;
Other Pertinent Yarn:
AAAS ScienceNOW – John Travis: Science, Nature Team Up on New Journal ;
*UPDATES:
- At Nature‘s The Great Beyond blogsite Geoff Brumfiel industriously gathered up a good deal more. The paleoparticle earns its top marks.
- Discovery News – Eric Bland: Ordinary T-shirts could become body armor ;
– Charlie Petit
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