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Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers
Discover magazine published an article detailing the discovery by wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo of a fascinating new species: the hotheaded naked ice borer. Dr. Pazzo, the article explained, encountered this creature while studying penguins in Antarctica. She noticed a frightened penguin rapidly sinking into the ice, and when she pulled the hapless creature out of the rapidly growing slush pool, she found small, bizarre animals attached to its lower body. They were about half a foot long, and quite light. Their unique feature was a bony plate on their head that they could cause to become burning hot, allowing them to bore tunnels through the ice at high speeds, "much faster than a penguin can waddle." Packs of them would rapidly melt the ice beneath a penguin, causing it to sink into the slush, at which point they would surround the creature and consume it. Dr. Pazzo hypothesized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin," she was quoted as saying. Discover received an enormous amount of mail in response to this article. The responses of most readers were very tongue-in-cheek, but a few readers were annoyed that Discover had taken liberties with the trust of its readers. (For more details, see article: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borer.)
HNIB Haiku (submitted by Hoax Museum readers)
| Hot head, razor teeth, boring through the ice at speed. Penguins, watch your feet! (by J) | All life is at risk As hot-headed ice borers May make ice caps sink (by Paul) |
April Fool's Day Categories: Science, Fictitious Creatures, Magazines and Journals, Scientists, United States, 1995, Loof Lirpa
| More from the Hoax Museum Archives: | |||
Hi Alex,
about this article, it's interesting to note that "Aprile Pazzo" is a loose translation of "April's Fool" into Italian, therefore the article actually contained a sort of hint...
Moreover, "April's Fool" is called "Pesce d'Aprile" in Italian (April's Fish) and maybe our fish inspired the story, as well as the "missing" noted explorer's name, Poisson ("poisson" = "fish", in French).
Great site!!!
Greetings and thanks for your work
Posted by Donatella on Tue Mar 30, 2004 at 06:02 PM
about this article, it's interesting to note that "Aprile Pazzo" is a loose translation of "April's Fool" into Italian, therefore the article actually contained a sort of hint...
Moreover, "April's Fool" is called "Pesce d'Aprile" in Italian (April's Fish) and maybe our fish inspired the story, as well as the "missing" noted explorer's name, Poisson ("poisson" = "fish", in French).
Great site!!!
Greetings and thanks for your work
The naked ice borers were picked up by one of the major wires (I forget if it was AP or UPI) as a true story and was run by a local rag. At the time, I was working as an assistant librarian and was chastised by our administrative librarian because we sent in an unapproved letter informing the newspaper that naked mole rats belong in the same make-believe category as jackelopes and snarks.
Posted by Sarah in Chicago on Thu Apr 01, 2004 at 05:42 PM
Um, I remember this story from when I was quite young -- we subscribed to Discover and I was taken in by it. So I'm quite sure 1985 is the more likely date. It's possible they reprinted it in 1995. I remember the letters to the editor they published in the following issue very fondly. This was, I believe, their first in what became a tradition of yearly April Fool's articles, many of which were ingenius, but none of which ever topped this one. I was very disappointed last year, when there were none, and have cancelled my subscription!
In French, "April Fool's!" is said as "Poisson d'Avril!".
Posted by heather in dundas, ontario on Thu Apr 01, 2004 at 08:53 PM
In French, "April Fool's!" is said as "Poisson d'Avril!".
I remember being horrified while reading this article, visualizing these gruesome creatures devouring unsuspecting peguins.
The pictures were of a naked mole rat, modified with the "blood horn".
Naked mole rats need no extra help to look ugly!
Posted by Jon Smallberries in moon on Fri Apr 02, 2004 at 11:51 AM
The pictures were of a naked mole rat, modified with the "blood horn".
Naked mole rats need no extra help to look ugly!
It has to be 1995, because I remember falling for this one, and I was not in junior high, which is where I was in 1985.
Posted by Wacky Hermit in Undisclosed Mountain State on Fri Apr 02, 2004 at 04:36 PM
Yes, I don't know about reprints, but it was first published in 1985, because by 1995 I had long stopped subscribing to Discover Magazine (which had changed owners and had become very "dumbed down," and had started publishing articles with questionable science that supported the owners' other companies).
I saw the Hotheaded Naked Ice Borer raise its head again in a book about science in the X-Files, published in the early-mid 90s. The author, who perhaps had never heard of checking facts, refered to the HNIB as a real creature. I thought at first she was joking, but on rereading, it was apparent that she'd been taken in completely.
Posted by David Farnell in Fukuoka, Japan on Wed Apr 07, 2004 at 11:13 PM
I saw the Hotheaded Naked Ice Borer raise its head again in a book about science in the X-Files, published in the early-mid 90s. The author, who perhaps had never heard of checking facts, refered to the HNIB as a real creature. I thought at first she was joking, but on rereading, it was apparent that she'd been taken in completely.
this was the first one that took me in, also. i was horrified. when i found out it was a hoax, i had a good laugh but hoped desperately to not have been the only one so taken. when i tried to find a pix years later to make a toy one as a birthday gift to my brother, i typed "hot headed naked ice borer" into the search field. what it returned was all sorts of "hot headed naked" things, not make-believe animals at all. i hurridly shielded the monitor so those images could not be seen. so i got taken twice by these beasties!
Posted by littletwin on Fri May 07, 2004 at 01:13 PM
It is 1995's issue. My buddy had brought it out for me to have a gander while we were getting high ( the microscopic creatures article is trippy). I was totally taken in, but the HNIB's picture looked a little too odd and too much like a naked mole rat to be a real mammal. So when I saw that it was April's issue I borrowed his copy to look it up. Thanks everyone for clearing this stuff up for us!
Posted by Sillyputty on Fri Sep 24, 2004 at 06:45 PM
It was most certainly published in 1995, I remember I was the editor of a small-town newspaper at the time and I couldn't wait until the following year to publish my own April Fool's joke. We reported that roads were being treated with radioactive material from a nearby nuclear research facility in order to reduce traffic accidents due to icy highways. A cheap imitation, certainly, but still a lot of people were suckered into believing it.
Posted by Don in Canada on Fri Dec 17, 2004 at 07:52 PM
Smileys
Oh great, this creature is a hoax and it has taken me until just now to discover it?! I've been going around telling people about the naked mole rate for years, a creature who eats penguins. Then I see a naked mole rat cartoon charactor on one of my kid's shows (Kim Possible) so I decide to find the original acrticle to educate my kids. I find out that the real naked mole rat lives in Africa, so I Google "rat penguin" and find this site. Now I have to go tell my kids that Daddy-o has been duped!
Posted by Dan on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 02:24 PM
Oh great, this creature is a hoax and it has taken me until just now to discover it?! I've been going around telling people about the naked mole rate for years, a creature who eats penguins. Then I see a naked mole rat cartoon charactor on one of my kid's shows (Kim Possible) so I decide to find the original acrticle to educate my kids. I find out that the real naked mole rat lives in Africa, so I Google "rat penguin" and find this site. Now I have to go tell my kids that Daddy-o has been duped!
I was an editor at Discover at the time--yes, 1995, not 1985--and my colleague Tim, a comic genius, wrote this joke, along with others on previous and subsequent years. I think my favorite was the one about Albert Manque, the physicist who discovered the Bigon, a bowling-ball-sized particle--though Tim's first one, about some archaeologists who uncovered the Holy Grail, was pretty good too. The blood in the grail turned out to be type O-, making Jesus the universal donor. That story was partly a science-writing in-joke. Writers always describe scientists as searching for the "holy grail" of their field. We editors were always having to edit holy grails out of stories.
Posted by Not as funny as Tim on Tue Apr 05, 2005 at 12:42 AM
The bigon is fake? That would explain why I've never been able to find anything about it from other sources.
I wasn't getting "Discover" in April 1995 but I read about the hotheaded naked ice-borers in "The Unofficial X-Files Companion." I had no idea it was a hoax until I visited this site today. Seriously, that "X-Files" book contains many grievous errors; don't take anything printed in it as fact (including information about the show) unless another source says the same thing.
Posted by Lee Sherman on Fri Jul 08, 2005 at 02:44 AM
I wasn't getting "Discover" in April 1995 but I read about the hotheaded naked ice-borers in "The Unofficial X-Files Companion." I had no idea it was a hoax until I visited this site today. Seriously, that "X-Files" book contains many grievous errors; don't take anything printed in it as fact (including information about the show) unless another source says the same thing.
I AM a naked ice borer, and I resent greatly being told that I am ficticious. You're just jealous because I'm better looking than you, you disgusting smelly great hairless apes! Aaah, for a taste of fresh penguin blood...I think I'll do a little boring...
But before I go:
Danny Devito did not do my favourite snack any justice. In fact, it makes me a bit upset to my naked hairless stomach every time I even think about that movie...
Also, btw, we don't just eat penguins. We travel from one ice flow to the next by using a rope made from sea weed, attaching it to a group of penguins, hitching it around our waists, and getting them to fly to the next ice flow. Then, often, we eat them.
It's amazing how long they've kept their flying secret from people...
My second cousin is actually married to one (a penguin, not, for God's sake, a great hairless ape!). There is more and more inter-breeding these days, which doesn't do either species any great service, imho. This is how, in case you didnt know, sharpeis are made...
Posted by NIB on Tue Jul 12, 2005 at 06:04 PM
But before I go:
Danny Devito did not do my favourite snack any justice. In fact, it makes me a bit upset to my naked hairless stomach every time I even think about that movie...
Also, btw, we don't just eat penguins. We travel from one ice flow to the next by using a rope made from sea weed, attaching it to a group of penguins, hitching it around our waists, and getting them to fly to the next ice flow. Then, often, we eat them.
It's amazing how long they've kept their flying secret from people...
My second cousin is actually married to one (a penguin, not, for God's sake, a great hairless ape!). There is more and more inter-breeding these days, which doesn't do either species any great service, imho. This is how, in case you didnt know, sharpeis are made...
This is a very interesting situation for me. I was given as assignment for school and i had to compare and contrast 2 articles for my biology class and this was one of the articles. I researched it a little bit further and found it was fake...who would have thought...lol. Thanks for letting me know because i got extra credit on this assignment 
Posted by chris in waterbury connecticut on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 04:53 PM
I was taken in by this one.
High school science teacher set me straight.
The ice weasels will come for you too.
Posted by C-olin in Canada on Sun Apr 02, 2006 at 06:34 AM
High school science teacher set me straight.
The ice weasels will come for you too.
Well, Well....I was really duped by this one!! My son got a Friday homework assignment for extra credit and seeing that he REALLY needed the extra credit, we were going to do this report and make it really count!! Needless to say we spent a whole afternoon at the library and quite a bit of money on poster board and such to make this the best report ever!!! My son told me all about this animal and I was amazed that God could create such a thing...but as I know people...I was not surprised.
Anyway about 3/4's of the way through our searching my son comes up with the website that shows us its a big hoax!! And to think that I wa thinking that we made it through another April 1st without any pranks!!
HA HA on us!......However my son did get the extra credit! : )
Posted by Mags in Arizona on Tue Apr 04, 2006 at 03:06 PM
Anyway about 3/4's of the way through our searching my son comes up with the website that shows us its a big hoax!! And to think that I wa thinking that we made it through another April 1st without any pranks!!
HA HA on us!......However my son did get the extra credit! : )
The Joke is very funny, but in fact there are realy some animals who live in the ice. There are example the Ice worms (not as big as in the April fools but...) to finde out more http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/iceworm.htm or do your own google..
Posted by Fire_Shark in US on Fri Apr 07, 2006 at 01:51 PM
I am so GLAD that I was not the only person fooled by the ice boarer hoax! Like one of the other commenters, I believe there are so many wondrous undiscovered things out there...
Posted by AmanitaEater on Thu Sep 28, 2006 at 03:11 PM
I was not only taken in, but I spent YEARS telling everyone about it. It was my all time favorite animal. When after about five years I discovered I had been tricked by a magazine who I trusted with scientific info, it guaranteed that I would never again buy their magazine.
Posted by Marc in Indiana on Wed Nov 15, 2006 at 07:20 PM
I was totally taken in by this one. I believed it for years I am embarrased to say. I used to show everyone that issue of Discover thinking the world needed to know about the naked hot headed ice borers. It was only years and years later when I was reading a similar list of april fools jokes that I learned the truth. That was quite an embarrassing moment.
Posted by Bob in NJ on Fri Mar 30, 2007 at 10:21 PM
I remember totally being taken in by this one. It was just a small article, but it seemed to have huge ramifications. A small mammal, in Antarctica, capable of melting ice, and eating not only penguins, but humans???!!!! I was dumbfounded, amazed, and wasn't until the next issue when they revealed the hoax able to contain my excitement and stop telling my friends about the "scourge of Antarctica".
Posted by Joel in florida on Sat Mar 31, 2007 at 11:48 PM
The article mentions Antarctic explorer "Dr. Philippe Poisson?"
"poisson d'avril" = "April Fool" in French
Posted by SoberG in California on Sun Apr 01, 2007 at 05:37 PM
"poisson d'avril" = "April Fool" in French
I WANT ONE. IT CAN LIVE IN MY FREEZER. I WILL HUG HIM AND SQUEEZE HIM AND CALL HIM GEORGE.
Posted by David in USA on Fri May 04, 2007 at 09:56 PM
I was suckered by this one too. I went around telling people about it for about a year afterward until I realized it was an april fools' joke. I think it was the story of the Bigon the next year, that made me suspicious about both of them.
Posted by jim collier in san francisco on Thu Nov 01, 2007 at 02:01 PM
This hoax completely got me when I was in 9th grade. I didn't think about the language. I only wanted to believe that there were naked mole rats living in the Antarctic. It really had me for the entire month until the next issue. I had told a bunch of kids about it, and they were incredulous. A month later I admitted that I was wrong but everyone had forgotten about it.
Posted by justin damm in chicago, IL on Tue Apr 01, 2008 at 12:01 AM
"Proud and Free, a fierce ice borer bellows a challenge"
That caption with the picture from the original Discover article,
suggesting that the little critters either barked or made whatever rodent-like sounds,
had me and a buddy of mine back in the day nickname these things "Antarctic screaming heat weasels" !
Posted by Danjo Dycle in PA on Tue Apr 01, 2008 at 06:14 AM
That caption with the picture from the original Discover article,
suggesting that the little critters either barked or made whatever rodent-like sounds,
had me and a buddy of mine back in the day nickname these things "Antarctic screaming heat weasels" !
I was also an editor at Discover at the time. And Tim did a brill job of describing my charismatic invention. Thanks Tim!
"V"
Posted by Patricia Gadsby in nyc on Thu Apr 22, 2010 at 05:17 PM
"V"
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