Zócalo Public Square is a magazine of ideas from Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise. Why do we laugh? The obvious answer is because something is funny. But if we look closer at when and how ...

Greg Bryant, a professor at UCLA, explains his studies on laughter. Using acoustic analysis, he found that real laughter was more emotional, closer to animals, and fake laughter was closer to speech.

You know how, when the neighbors’ child does that thing where he smacks his hand into your head over and over and the neighbors get hysterical and, to be nice, you laugh, too, though you don’t think ...

Your fake laughter isn't fooling anyone. New research shows people can tell the difference. To test whether fake laughs are distinguishable from the real thing, UCLA researchers recorded spontaneous ...

Everyone fakes a laugh once in a while – whether it's smarmy politicians, cheesy gameshow hosts or the suckup at work. But is that pseudo snickering really fooling anyone? Turns out it can, but not ...

Scene: The happy-hour office party. Your boss is relaxed, drink in hand. A little liquid courage of your own, and you approach her, taking a shot at an opportunity to impress. You open with a quip.

While your poker face may be good at fooling others, your poker laugh probably doesn't hold up under scrutiny, according to two recent studies. "Quite a few fake laughs sound pretty good, but ...

Appearing on the 'Today' show, 'SNL' star Kate McKinnon talked about her real and fake laughs, what she finds funny and why her impression of Attorney General Jeff Sessions grossed out her 'The Spy ...

Fake laughter fools other people only about a third of the time, a new study says. What gives phony mirth away? It's probably tiny clues in your breathing, according to Greg Bryant, an associate ...