For the first time in over 60 years, Easter and April Fools' Day are on the same day, creating the rare EasterFools' Day holiday.

To celebrate, former NASA-JPL engineer/current science YouTube star Mark Rober (previously) went on Jimmy Kimmel Live to demonstrate some easy pranks for this rare double holiday. For example, he fills hollow chocolate bunnies with broccolini and calls them "Brocco-Bunny" and puts Brussels sprouts on sticks and then dips them in melted chocolate, creating "Brussels Pops."

What he does with mayonnaise is unforgivable. And the kids they give these EasterFools' "treats" to are surely scarred for life.

FYI: the next EasterFools' Day happens in 2029. Read the rest

"Start remembering your bathroom experiences again with our new handcrafted toilet paper. Inspired by the makers of yesterday and today." Quilted Northern's April Fool's day joke. Read the rest

For April Fools, Google rearranged Gmail's UI to replace the normal send button with one that attaches a Minions(TM) Mic Drop GIF animation to outgoing email.

“Today, Gmail is making it easier to have the last word on any email with Mic Drop. Simply reply to any email using the new ‘Send + Mic Drop’ button. Everyone will get your message, but that’s the last you’ll ever hear about it. Yes, even if folks try to respond, you won’t see it,” Google explained when it launched the button on April 1.

Unfortunately, this resulted in things like this:

WHAT A HARMLESS APRIL FOOL'S JOKE, WHAT COULD GO WRONG pic.twitter.com/Maw8a6VUSA

— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) April 1, 2016

Google quickly realized what it had done and turned it off…

Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. 😟 Due to a bug, the MicDrop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. We’re truly sorry. The feature has been turned off. If you are still seeing it, please reload your Gmail page.

…but not before a fair heap of mistakenly-dropped mics had piled up, along with the mic droppers' anguished complaints, on the internet.

A good reminder that email is not what Gmail is for. Read the rest

Lizzy writes from Austin's magnificent toy emporium Toy Joy:

Here at Toy Joy, April Fools Day smells like Unicorns! Specifically, Unicorn Farts! Not only is April 1 celebrated globally as a holiday of mischief, it also happens to be the best day for harvesting the rarest of poots: Unicorn Farts! Currently offered both in store at Toy Joy and at ToyJoy.com for the low price of $2.95, this enchanted product is sure to bring a smile to your prince or princess.

* 100% Organic Concentrated Unicorn Farts * Unique Addition to Most Fart Collections! * Important Ingredient for Magic Spells. * Handy Household Fragrance. * Delicious on Salads!

We anticipate a high demand for these rarest of odors, and recommend stocking up on this magical product. Unicorn Farts won't be around forever!

Please feel free to contact the wizarding team at Toy Joy for additional information on this product, or the harvesting process. Send all emails to questions@toyjoy.com.

"The April Fool is dead," writes Alastair Macdonald. "Or at least the gentle jester of the common folk has metastised into a corporate colossus controlled by global marketing executives, bestriding the Internet to force familiar brands ever deeper into the collective consciousness." Read the rest

It's a little late in the week, but I think you should really read this paper published on arXiv—a open-access website where physicists and mathematicians can post their research before it's gone through peer review. The title: Gods as topological invariants. The conclusion: "Recent astronomical observations can not reject theism, but data are slightly in favor of atheism." (Via Samuel Arbesman) Read the rest

Grist's article on local, artisan connective tissue and beef paste is possibly my favorite April Fools story of 2012. Read the rest