During the last year the Herald has featured numerous strange but true stories, from Alex Lenkei, who hypnotised himself before surgery, to Oscar the skateboarding dog.

Now it's time for readers to work out which of the stories below are April Fools.

Once you've decided, leave your comment below, and the truth will be revealed at noon today (April 1) – click here to see.

Sweet smells

Dog welfare charity Dogs Trust has announced a revolutionary diet with a plan to make stinky dog emissions may be a thing of the past.

A spokesman for the charity said: "We care for over 16,000 dogs a year across our 17 re-homing centres, and that means a lot of poop scooping.

"We've been working with boffins behind the scenes devising the ultimate dog diet to minimise stinky emissions and make our kennel staff's job a bit more pleasant.

"Incredibly we've found a diet that not only minimises the smell but even makes poop fragrant."

Dogs Trust is patenting the winning formula and cannot yet reveal full details of the diet.

The spokesperson added: "If we can market the formula it will also be a great way of fundraising for us."


Mind control

Thoughts can send instructions to robots, thanks to a new Brain Machine Interface created in Japan.

Engineers at Honda have developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person's scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements _ moving the right hand, moving the left hand, trotting and eating.

Honda succeeded in analyzing such thought patterns, and then relaying them as wireless commands for Asimo, its human-shaped robot.


New elephant

American and British conservation biologists, in coordination with scientific educators and zoological researchers, have announced the possible discovery of a distinct new elephant sub-species, which they have named Elephas maximus zoochoticus.

These include: Shortened legs with distinctive narrowing of the limbs, possibly resulting from enforced muscle atrophy due to movement restrictions.

A reduction in ear size, possibly due to a reduced need for thermo-regulation

Cracked skin, often with horny growths.

Hardening of the footpads thought to have developed to cope with unnatural underfoot conditions, such as cement flooring.

Will Travers, CEO of the Born Free Foundation and Born Free USA said: "While it is an incredibly exciting day for all of us in the conservation community to announce the existence of a new elephant sub-species,the highly-endangered status of Elephas maximus zoochoticus may mean we have only a short time to study and understand this unique sub-species before it disappears."

Researchers have identified a number of specific physical attributes that sets Elephas maximus zoochoticus apart from the superficially similar wild Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and even more so from wild African elephants (Loxodonta africana).

Elephas maximus zoochoticus has adapted remarkably to its specific habitat throughout its range.

It is known to be confined to very small territories – some as small as one-tenth or one-quarter of an acre.

Unlike African savannah elephants who require many square miles of habitat, or African and Asian forest elephants who inhabit often dense jungles and whose daily range is determined by the availability of naturally occurring food.


Can you spot the April Fool?

Let us know by commenting below.


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