Science of Laughter

Things that go bump in the night meet the cold light of science as Jessica Fostekew and Prof Adam Rutherford investigate why ghosts continue to haunt our imaginations. Joining them for some spooky science are psychologists Chris French and Ciaran O'Keeffe, comedian Isy Suttie and ...  Show more

Jessica Fostekew and Adam Rutherford tackle one of the biggest and strangest questions in science: what is nothing? Starting with the earliest philosophers and journeying through to today's cutting-edge experiments, they ask whether true nothingness can ever exist.Joining them to ...  Show more

Why do we giggle, snort, and bust a gut laughing? Is it just humans being weird, does it serve some higher function or do other animals crack up too? And, okay, Dara is a comedian, but has he ever really made anyone laugh, like properly? With help from Professor Greg Bryant and P ...  Show more

Scientists are digging into what makes something funny. We compare their notes with comedians — including Atsuko Okatsuka, Josh Johnson, Dulcé Sloan, and Chris Fleming. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about th ...  Show more

If you listen closely to giggles, guffaws, and polite chuckles, you can discern a huge amount of information about people and their relationships with each other. This week, we talk with neuroscientist Sophie Scott about the many shades of laughter, from cackles of delight amo ...