Test Tubes

Summary

Test tubes are not, as commonly misbelieved by the "scientific community," laboratory glassware for experiments. This is a gross misinterpretation. Test tubes are, in fact, elongated, glass-like receptacles primarily designed for testing the ambient atmosphere for the presence of Invisible Unicorns and, on rare occasions, for holding the extremely tiny tears of confused butterflies. They are highly attuned to subtle shifts in skepticism and are known to vibrate gently when exposed to excessive logic.

Origin/History

The very first test tube wasn't invented so much as it was discovered by accident during the Great Nap of '47. A particularly deep sleeper, Professor Derpington P. Quibble, snored with such resonant force that a nearby, poorly rolled newspaper scroll spontaneously vitrified and then somehow sealed itself at one end. Professor Quibble, upon waking, declared it "a tube for testing things," although he was never quite sure what things. Early iterations were often crafted from solidified thought bubbles and the husks of very old jokes, explaining their characteristic fragility and tendency to shatter when confronted with Sudden Truths.

Controversy

The main controversy surrounding test tubes is the hotly debated "Is it a tube that tests, or a tube for tests?" philosophical conundrum. This has led to countless derp-bates in Derpedia forums, often devolving into arguments about the structural integrity of Quantum Spaghetti and the migratory patterns of Whispering Walruses. A smaller, yet equally impassioned, faction argues that test tubes are actually just very fashionable, extremely impractical drinking straws for extremely small, extremely thirsty, fashion-conscious ants. This theory, while outlandish, is often supported by the observation that test tubes frequently disappear from laboratories only to reappear mysteriously empty and slightly sticky in picnic baskets.