# What was this year's fake April Discover article? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 24, 2000, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288 "2000-03-24T03:07:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/1 "2000-03-24T03:07:00Z")
Well, either they didn’t do one, or it fooled my ass. What was the April Fool’s article this year in Discover? ---
**Author:** ![mega\_the\_roo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/2 "2000-03-24T03:09:00Z")
i was just going to make some lame comment about how it’s still march. but i won’t. * * * if wishes were fishes, we could walk on the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![coosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@coosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coosa)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/3 "2000-03-24T03:45:00Z")
Me too, Revtim - I spent more time trying to spot the fake article than I did actually reading the damn thing. Popular Science had a fake - maybe Discover passed this year. Or maybe we’re both really dense. * * * Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/4 "2000-03-24T13:00:00Z")
I’m glad I’m not the only one who hasn’t found it… ---
**Author:** ![saucy\_potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/edb3f5/32.png) [@saucy\_potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucy_potato)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/5 "2000-03-25T03:59:00Z")
Don’t magazines come out a month before the month the issue is? The may issue should be out in April. ---
**Author:** ![coosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@coosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coosa)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/6 "2000-03-25T09:01:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by saucy potato: > \*\*Don’t magazines come out a month before the month the issue is? > > The may issue should be out in April.\*\* _sigh_ This is March - so we all have the April issue. Is it already April where you live? Well, I don’t feel so dumb anymore, since David B. says he hasn’t spotted it either! * * * Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/7 "2000-03-25T12:44:00Z")
Every previous year, I have forgotten that Discover has April Fool’s selections, but I eventually came across the planted article and said “Hey this can’t be right–oh, this must be the April Fools article. Very amusing.” But this year that didn’t happened, and, reviewing the April, 2000 issue once more, I’m pretty sure there isn’t any April Fools entires this time. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/8 "2000-03-25T15:18:00Z")
My understanding as to why you have the April issue and it is still March is that magazines are dated as of the date they go _off_ newsstand sale. In other words, the April issue will get to newsstands sometime in mid-March and will be on sale until the May issue comes out in mid-April. That way, if you pick up an issue in early April, it will be the April issue and you won’t think you are buying a “stale” magazine. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2000, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/9 "2000-03-26T00:35:00Z")
Maybe the Census is this years thing as its set for April 1st. ---
**Author:** ![saucy\_potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/edb3f5/32.png) [@saucy\_potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucy_potato)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2000, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/10 "2000-03-26T17:58:00Z")
Coosa-I was responding to Mega. No need to be snarky. ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/11 "2000-03-29T02:49:00Z")
Page 38. **Days of Blunder**. not quite the same, i know… but that’s all i can see. * * * _what is essential is invisible to the eye -the fox_ ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/12 "2000-03-29T06:04:00Z")
From the last sentence of the article “Days of Blunder” (p. 38, as Kilgore Trout pointed out): > [@](#): > > The best we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on, accepting our foolishness–a message you can extract from this article by linking together the first word of each paragraph. That message is, of course, “Happy April Fools Day.” The article is about various mistakes made in the history of space, rather than a flat-out fake article. Phooey. * * * Teaching: The ultimate birth control method. [Laura’s Stuff and Things](http://members.aol.com/lrconaway) ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/13 "2000-03-29T06:05:00Z")
That would be the history of space _exploration_, not the history of space itself. Big, big difference there. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/14 "2000-03-29T13:43:00Z")
Yup, there it is. \< sigh \> I was looking for one of their little blurbs, like usual. I only skimmed that article and didn’t catch the last sentence. Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/15 "2000-03-29T14:05:00Z")
Nice catch there, **Ruffian** –your detective skills rival that of the master. (Either Sherlock Holmes or Cecil Adams–take your pick). But I’ve got to believe this weak “joke” is a sign that _Discover_ has run out of good ideas, and has moved on middling ones. ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-years-fake-april-discover-article/15288/16 "2000-03-29T22:33:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Nice catch there, Ruffian–your detective skills rival that of the master. me being the master, of course. * * * _what is essential is invisible to the eye -the fox_