Baby Babble

This video of twin babies "talking" has received 55 million+ views. But are they really talking? Probably not.

Babies normally babble by 10 months and use identifiable words by 14 months. Experts say the twins are engaging in “reduplicated babbling,” where they simply repeat a sound without knowing what is really going on.

But they are exhibiting a lot of the characteristics of normal speech (evidently from viewing others around them): taking turns babbling, imitating various speech intonations, emphatically ending sentences or exclamations, using gestures to supplement the babbling and body distance is "very appropriate for most Americans; not too close, but not too far either."

Icicle of Death

A video shows the formation of a brinicle (underwater icicle) which freezes everything in its path.

Essentially, sub-zero brine slowly sinks to the ocean floor and freezes warmer water along the way. Brinicles form in, "very calm ocean conditions, when there's a big differential between the water temperature (around -1.9C) and the air temperature about the sea ice (below -20C)."

When Bubbles Burst

What happens when a bubble bursts?

Research indicates when bubble skin breaks, it retracts and, while folding in on itself, it can trap air to form baby bubbles which, in a chain reaction, collapse on themselves to create even smaller baby bubbles. The smaller the bubble, the greater the internal pressure, the quicker the burst.

Here's a video.

Ummmm

Why do we say words like "um"?

1) No reason: Father of modern day linguistics, Prof. Noam Chomsky believes such phrases are simply "errors in applying knowledge of language in actual performance."

2) For Control: One school, for example, believes the usage is deliberate - if anticipating a delay in speech, the speaker uses these signals to inform the listener we need a second to formulate our thoughts. Otherwise, the listener may feel the speaker is finished. They say "um" almost always sets up a long delay in speech, while "uh" signals a brief pause. Speakers also extend vowels of words if searching for the next word. They say such "disfluencies" make up 6-10% of spontaneous speech and all languages have these "disfluencies".

3) For Comprehension: Other research argues toddlers use disfluencies to focus on words that follow. As compared with a normal sentence, toddlers over 2 years of age tended to pay more attention when they heard a sentence with "um" or "uh". Researchers argue this is because 2 year olds understand that "uhs" often precede unknowns.

Laughter a Form of Exercise

Research shows laughter can produce the same health benefits as physical exercise. Volunteers watched 20 minutes of a funny movie or comedy stand-up and revealed that laughing lowered their blood pressure, altered their appetite hormones as moderate exercise would.

In the spirit of this study, this video should provide you with your daily workout's worth.

Another Benefit of Washing Hands

Recent research suggests that washing hands after making a decision can prevent second-guessing our choice.

A previous post showed hand washing can remove the guilt of past misdeeds. But it was unclear if it was due to the brain linking physical and moral cleanliness or because one forgets about the past.

So psychologists removed any moral implications from the decision - asking subjects to choose between a pair of CDs or flavors of jam. Subjects who washed their hands immediately after making their choice didn't second-guess but the rest spent more time justifying their decision.

Walking = Happiness

Research shows even 5 minutes of exercise in a natural setting can significantly increase happiness. 10 different studies where 1,200+ people did activities such as gardening, sailing and country walks demonstrated the effect. People with mental disorders benefited the most.

Brain Can Hear by Seeing

Research suggests the brain actually links hearing with sight because simply seeing a vase shatter activates the brain's auditory areas. In other words, you can "hear" even when you only "see" the sound being produced. MRI scans of silent videos of things being broken or instruments being played revealed activation of the auditory cortex and categorization of the sound.

Hyena's Laugh When They're Serious

Research finds that hyenas laughter is used to send status cues to the group. Research also found that each hyena's laugh's voice establish a hyena's identity and age. Moreover, the dominant hyena's have a monotone laugh while subordinate hyenas are more erratic.

Too bad the calls didn't work with this lion.