Author: Lisa Mungovan

The Tanystropheus was a reptile from the Triassic period, 242,000,000 years ago. It looked sort of like a crocodile, with a very-very-very long neck. How did a creature with a 4-foot-long body, support a 7-foot-long neck? Paleontologists now believe its body rested on the ground underwater, while its head floated on the surface, trapping food.

Today is Ferret Day. The popular pet is related to minks and weasels. They love to play! It’s also Peanut Butter And Jelly Day, as well as Children’s Book Day. Make a PB&J sandwich, and read your favorite kids books. Start with A Ferret Named Phil, by William Reimer, or Janet Nolan’s PB&J Hooray!

April Fools’ Day is over, so let me set the record straight. Some of yesterday’s news was a joke! Cauliflower Marshmallow Peeps, and guacamole toothpaste, don’t really exist. Did you get tricked by anyone? Look through today’s news, to get ideas for revenge pranks next year!

Pokemon Go, is holding an April Fools’ Day special event, to celebrate some of the trickiest Pokemon, like Croagunk and Aipom. You’ll be able to complete special tasks, fight Team Go Rocket Grunts, and maybe find a Shiny, while catching mischievous Pokemon. The event starts at noon. You have 1 week to complete research tasks.

Chosen Foods, specializes in avocados. They make organic cooking oils and sprays, guacamole, mayonnaise, sauces, and salad dressings, out of the nutrition-packed fruit. Their newest product, is GuacPaste. It’s guacamole toothpaste, made with hand-scooped Hass avocados. Get your toothbrushes ready, because kid-friendly flavors like Garlic, Pesto, and Harvest Fresh, are coming soon.

Marshmallow Peeps are no strangers, to unusual flavors. This spring, they’ve teamed up with the vegetable company Green Giant, to bring us Cauliflower Peeps. The white bunnies look harmless enough, but would you want to bite into veggie-flavored candy? I think I’ll stick with Cotton Candy or Root Beer Float-flavored Peeps.

Duolingo is a learning app, that teaches you foreign languages. They know having your phone near toilets is risky, so they’ve also created toilet paper, that turns your bathroom into a classroom. The 3-ply Duolingo Rolls are available for English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese speakers. It keeps your learning on a regular schedule.

It’s supposed to snow 2 feet today. Just kidding! It’s Tell A Lie Day, and April Fools’ Day, a day to play good-natured pranks on people. Beware of the filling, in donuts, ha-ha-ha! Today is also Fun Day. It’s fun to be a trickster, but so is playing games, creating art, or building a fort.

When you have an injury or surgery, that requires stitches, you have to make sure the wound doesn’t get infected. 17-year-old Dasia Taylor, invented a surgical suture that changes color, when there’s an infection. Patients will know there’s a problem, when the thread dyed with beet juice, turns from red to purple.

Virtual school makes you learn the importance of backing up your files. Maybe you wrote an essay that didn’t save, or you lost the connection before your homework finished submitting. You could’ve also experienced, losing your phone full of photos. Today, on World Backup Day, save all your digital stuff, just in case.