Laughter

What a better way to start April Fools day than with a discussion of laughter. It's true - laughter has many healthy benefits for us and that's no joke. For instance, Laughing for just 15 minutes a day burns enough calories to lose up to 5lbs of fat over a year. A big belly laugh uses about the same energy as walking more than half a mile, according to the US study in the International Journal of Obesity.

Laughing makes the heart beat faster and works many different muscles.

Researchers measured the number of calories expended by 45 adults as they watched different TV programs, including nature and comedy shows. Bouts of laughter when watching a funny show used up to 20% more energy than at rest.

Work already suggests that laughter is good for the heart and immune system, and appears to help ease pain. Dr Shevach Friedler, even found humor increased the chance that fertility treatment would be a success in patients seeking IVF. He said, "Laughter has a physiological effect as well as a psychological one. It is an intuitive human trait. We do not learn it. It's in our genes. If we retain this in our genes then probably it has beneficial effects." OK, go play a prank today and have a good belly laugh, it is good for your heart and soul. Be careful about that fertility thing. .

Color TV Hoax

Another April Fool's Day joke was played in 1962 when there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.