To English speakers, the word, “peanut” isn’t especially funny. But “peanut” in Serbian, “kikiriki” is widely considered by Serbs to be the funniest word in their language. This raises the question of why people laugh at some words (“poop”) but not at others (“treadmill”). Does it come down to their meanings? Or are people responding to their sounds? Psycholinguist Chris Westbury set out to discover the answer.
The World's Rahul Joglekar stopped by at a Laughter Yoga session in central London.
Amid all the economic doom and gloom coming from Greece these days, you'd think the Greeks don't have much to laugh about. But actually, humor is alive and well in Greece, and it's helping many cope with some dark times.
A new study indicates that laughter helps people cope with pain.
Life changed for most Americans after 9/11, but comedians faced a very specific dilemma: when and how to make people laugh again. WNYC's Jim O'Grady spoke with several comedians, including Gottfried, about how being funny changed after 9/11.
Scientists work toward a grand, unifying theory of why humans smile.
Why do we smile? Not only do scientists believe they may have discovered the answer to that question, but also to how we perceive the smile. Carl Zimmer, science writer for The New York Times, has the details of this new study.
Clowns Without Borders is trying to spread laughter among the tent cities and makeshift hospitals of post-earthquake Haiti.
Researchers find naturally occurring laughing gas in clam bellies; but the impact on the climate isn't so funny.
Research finds clams are burping out a powerful greenhouse gas, N2O.