Poisson d'Avril: Exploding Trees

Yesterday's "All Things Considered" on NPR was an April Fool's Day special report. New England Suffers Maple Woes:

"April Fool's: New England Suffers Maple Woes-- by Robert Siegel 

All Things Considered, April 1, 2005 · A downturn in the maple syrup market is having harmful side effects for trees in northern New England. For the first time in decades, the maples are remaining untapped, with sometimes-dangerous results."

According to a specialist in "aboreal thermodynamics" the pressure builds up, causing the trees to explode. We're sure that more than one earnest NPR listener was taken in by this joke. Great fun.

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