Science isn't entirely sure why humans and other animals yawn, let alone why yawning can be contagious -- but we've got some good hypotheses. Learn about them, from cooling the brain to spreading alertness, in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/question572.htm; https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/contagious-yawn.htm

Science isn't entirely sure why humans and other animals yawn, let alone why yawning can be contagious -- but we've got some good hypotheses. Learn about them, from cooling the brain to spreading alertness, in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/question572.htm; https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/contagious-yawn.htm

Whether the topic is popcorn or particle physics, you can count on BrainStuff to explore -- and explain -- the everyday science in the world around us.

BrainStuff

Why Do We Yawn, and Why Is It Catching?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7efe9759-9e5b-4d38-ae3d-b4a30141ad7c/transcript

Starlings flock in swooping, harmonious groups of thousands of birds called murmurations. Learn how these birds pull off such an amazing feat through simple actions in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/starling-murmurations.htm

Starlings flock in swooping, harmonious groups of thousands of birds called murmurations. Learn how these birds pull off such an amazing feat through simple actions in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: <a href="https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/starling-murmurations.htm">https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/starling-murmurations.htm</a>

BrainStuff Classics: How Do Starling Murmurations Work?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b2e3043e-16cd-4450-90c7-b4bb00b7d02d/transcript

You may know him as the villain in the film 'Gladiator', but the real-life Emperor Commodus is said to have been even more cruel and megalomaniacal. Learn about his unusual upbringing, how he made himself into a gladiator and an image of Hercules, and his eventual assassination in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/commodus.htm

You may know him as the villain in the film 'Gladiator', but the real-life Emperor Commodus is said to have been even more cruel and megalomaniacal. Learn about his unusual upbringing, how he made himself into a gladiator and an image of Hercules, and his eventual assassination in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: <a href="https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/commodus.htm">https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/commodus.htm</a>

Was Commodus One of Rome's Worst Emperors?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7ad61c4e-e63c-4c38-b025-b4bb00b7d0b9/transcript

Planetary rings are gorgeous, temporary structures created when a planet's gravity captures and tears apart smaller objects. Learn why Earth doesn't have rings (right now!) and what other planets' rings are like in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-earth-had-rings.htm; https://science.howstuffworks.com/planets-with-rings.htm

Planetary rings are gorgeous, temporary structures created when a planet's gravity captures and tears apart smaller objects. Learn why Earth doesn't have rings (right now!) and what other planets' rings are like in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-earth-had-rings.htm; https://science.howstuffworks.com/planets-with-rings.htm

What If Earth Had Rings?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/fae0f649-1131-4e63-bfa6-b4b900102c83/transcript

Why Do We Yawn, and Why Is It Catching?

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