Comments on: “A yawn is quite catching, you see, like a cough…

By: Bucky

Bucky — Mon, 24 May 2021 12:04:28 +0000

I had a nasty Algebra teacher in High School who used to give a big yawn in front of the class and then castigate any student who yawned.

Remember Ashli Babbitt!

By: Cicero

Cicero — Sun, 23 May 2021 23:12:49 +0000

Turns out my psychology “neuroscientists ” and functional MRI thesis is supported once again:
the Platek referred to in Neo’s piece is “Steven Platek, a psychology professor at Georgia Gwinnett College.”
Not much of a college, either.
A wee little man who probably insists he be called “Doctor”.

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Sun, 23 May 2021 05:47:13 +0000

“on the English version of some Russian website. This had clearly been auto-translated back in the days when machine translation was still relatively clumsy.” – Philip

Back in the day, one of the jokes was about testing an auto-translation of “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” into Russian and then back again, resulting in “The vodka is ready but the meat is rotten.”

The Internet, of course, knows all about it.
https://edwardbetts.com/monograph/Machine_translation_of_%22The_spirit_is_willing%2C_but_the_flesh_is_weak.%22_to_Russian_and_back

By: JC Collins

JC Collins — Sun, 23 May 2021 04:06:44 +0000

Evelyn Waugh once described a rumour as ‘spreading like a yawn.’
Vile Bodies, IIRC.

By: R2L

R2L — Sun, 23 May 2021 03:41:33 +0000

Chris B and GB: distant yawns don’t need the internet – you two were just experiencing quantum entanglement on a massive scale.
Maybe physicsguy can comment on that for us 🙂

By: Le Mot Juste

Le Mot Juste — Sun, 23 May 2021 02:03:35 +0000

Whistling too: I used to whistle experimentally in waiting crowds, such as at train stations. The Colonel Bogey March from Bridge On The River Kwai, e.g., or maybe the chorus to Those Were The Days, or a snappy Beatles number. Seldom failed!

By: Philip Sells

Philip Sells — Sun, 23 May 2021 01:43:16 +0000

Neo, if you ever do a thread on photic sneezing, I’ll be there.

By: Ackler

Ackler — Sun, 23 May 2021 01:03:24 +0000

I’m one of the minority of people who do not yawn when I see others yawn, or, for that matter, read articles on yawning. Perhaps I’m not too empathetic. I have been told that many times. ?

By: SCOTTtheBADGER

SCOTTtheBADGER — Sun, 23 May 2021 00:15:00 +0000

The Chippendale Mupp, in that book, can yawn a proper yawn, I should think. Judging by the trees in the near background, that is one big cat!

By: Cicero

Cicero — Sat, 22 May 2021 23:14:50 +0000

read on fMRI in Wiki.
It is a slog which concludes “Because of these factors and more, fMRI evidence has been excluded from any form of legal system. The testing is too uncontrolled and unpredictable. Therefore, it has been stated that fMRI has much more testing to do before it can be considered viable in the eyes the legal system.”
Too uncontrolled and unpredictable!
Most who hide behind the label “Neuroscientist” are psychologists, who are dubious in their science at best.