Uploaded April 2016 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
Watch as a Hadza tribesman listens to pairs of people laughing to determine which are friends and which are strangers.
A new study shows that different shades of laughter often hold enough information by themselves for us to discern key facts about the people yukking it up. Researchers from the University of California-Los Angeles recorded 24 pairs of people interacting with each other — half of the pairs were friends, and half had just met. They took small snippets of laughter from these conversations and played them to 966 individuals from 24 societies around the world, ranging from the U.S. to Japan to Himba tribesmen in Namibia. Participants were asked to determine if the two people laughing were friends or not, based only on how their laughter sounded.
Read the full story here: discovermagazine.com/mind/the-hidden-messages-in-a-laugh
—
Credit: UCLA
—
ABOUT DISCOVER:
Discover is your source for science that matters, makes sense and is a lot of fun, too.
Visit us at: discovermagazine.com
FOLLOW US:
Facebook: facebook.com/DiscoverMag
Twitter: twitter.com/DiscoverMag
Instagram: instagram.com/discover.magazine
SUPPORT US:
Subscribe to Discover: bit.ly/34seAFT
Sign up for our newsletter: discovermagazine.com/newsletter-signup
My Science Shop: myscienceshop.com
STAY CURIOUS!
Watch as a Hadza tribesman listens to pairs of people laughing to determine which are friends and which are strangers.
A new study shows that different shades of laughter often hold enough information by themselves for us to discern key facts about the people yukking it up. Researchers from the University of California-Los Angeles recorded 24 pairs of people interacting with each other — half of the pairs were friends, and half had just met. They took small snippets of laughter from these conversations and played them to 966 individuals from 24 societies around the world, ranging from the U.S. to Japan to Himba tribesmen in Namibia. Participants were asked to determine if the two people laughing were friends or not, based only on how their laughter sounded.
Read the full story here: discovermagazine.com/mind/the-hidden-messages-in-a-laugh
—
Credit: UCLA
—
ABOUT DISCOVER:
Discover is your source for science that matters, makes sense and is a lot of fun, too.
Visit us at: discovermagazine.com
FOLLOW US:
Facebook: facebook.com/DiscoverMag
Twitter: twitter.com/DiscoverMag
Instagram: instagram.com/discover.magazine
SUPPORT US:
Subscribe to Discover: bit.ly/34seAFT
Sign up for our newsletter: discovermagazine.com/newsletter-signup
My Science Shop: myscienceshop.com
STAY CURIOUS!
