Why Do We Laugh?

Ever wondered why some spices burn your throat while others tickle your nose? Or why some of us live for spicy foods while others sweat at the mere thought of a habanero? How do pickles stay crunchy if they’re sitting in brine for weeks on end? And why do we have such different f ... Show More

It’s summer and that means slathering yourself with sunblock before you’re allowed to go run around outside. Not everyone loves that ritual: sunscreen can be cold or sticky. Sometimes it gets in your eyes, and it always feels like it’s time to reapply JUST as you’re about to jump ... Show More

How did horseshoe crabs get their names? Are they even crabs? And did they really exist before the dinosaurs? Early spring presents a unique opportunity to see these living fossils up close as they scuttle up to the shoreline along the Atlantic coast of the United States to mate ... Show More

Can you tickle yourself? Probably not. Almost everybody is ticklish, but what’s happening to us is a bit of a mystery. 

Laughter is a great way to release stress, bond with friends & family, and just have fun. It's also why some people end up accidentally WETTING themselves! On this episode of WHO SMARTED?, we'll visit a disastrous rehearsal of Romeo & Juliet -- where the problem isn't that Juliet ... Show More

Why do we laugh, and what makes something funny? A psychologist, a neuroscientist and satirist Mark Humphries weigh in on humour and the brain. 

Laughter is like a language and humans are really good at understanding it. In this episode, Molly and co-host Milla decode different kinds of laughs, from uncontrollable goofy laughter to chuckles that make others feel good. They’ll meet laugh experts Sophie Scott and Adrienne W ... Show More

Laughter: We do it spontaneously, we do it forcefully, we do it with each other and by ourselves. But why did we evolve to giggle in the first place? Emily and Regina explore the evolutionary underpinnings of laughter — from chimpanzees to modern-day humans — and the ways it unit ... Show More

Get ready for some smiles! We’re looking at the science of two things that bring us joy: tickles and cuteness. We’ll explain why tickles make us giggle and why you can’t tickle yourself. Then we’ll talk about what makes cute things cute and why sometimes we want to eat or smoosh ... Show More

Laugh and the world laughs with you, or so you might think. But watch any good comedian on TV by yourself and chances are you’ll laugh a lot less than if you were sat in a lively comedy crowd watching the same comedian in the flesh. But why is that? Do people from different cultu ... Show More

The Science of LaughterBrian Cox and Robin Ince return for a new series of science/comedy chat. They are joined on stage, appropriately enough, by comedian Frank Skinner, as they look at the science of what makes us laugh, why we laugh at all, and whether humour and laughter are ... Show More

Hahaha! The average four-year-old child laughs 300 times a day. By contrast, it takes more than two months for the average 40-year-old adult to laugh that many times. This week, we talk with behavioral scientist Jennifer Aaker of Stanford University about why so many of us fall o ... Show More