{"id":999,"date":"2008-02-24T14:13:12","date_gmt":"2008-02-24T06:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/?p=999"},"modified":"2014-06-28T09:54:04","modified_gmt":"2014-06-28T01:54:04","slug":"laughing-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/mathematics\/laughing-scale-999","title":{"rendered":"Laughing scale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese scientists have developed a \"laughometer\" scale, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/pinktentacle.com\/2008\/02\/laughometer-measures-ah\/\">this translation from Pink Tentacle<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The laughter measurement system, which the [Kansai University] researchers say will help scientists conduct more detailed research into the physiological effects of laughter on the immune system, relies on a series of electrode sensors that monitor the tiny amounts of bioelectricity generated by certain muscles that flex when you chuckle. The sensors, which attach to a person&rsquo;s cheeks, chest and abdomen, take 3,000 measurements per second. Sensor data is relayed to a computer, where it is analyzed by special software that determines the nature of the laugh and assigns a numerical score based on the quantity.<\/p>\n<p>The laughter quantity is expressed in terms of &ldquo;aH&rdquo; &mdash; a unit of measurement developed by the research team. According to chief researcher Yoji Kimura, a Kansai University professor, 1 second of explosive laughter amounts to 5 aH.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I&rsquo;m wondering if the scale is logarithmic. It probably needs to be, since our reactions to events have a large range from discomfort (from embarrassment) through glee at others&rsquo; misfortunes (the sadists) and on to uncontrollable laughter often manifested by teenage girls (and boys when someone breaks wind in a serious meeting).<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/2008\/02\/laughter.jpg\"; alt=\"laughter\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size:8pt;\">Devotees of laughter therapy. [Image source: Sakthi Foundation, no longer available.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The system can tell the difference between genuine amusement and a polite laugh (something the Japanese have perfected over centuries).<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>According to Kimura, the diaphragm does not vibrate significantly when a person pretends to laugh, even when the person&rsquo;s voice and facial expression appear genuine. On the other hand, when one laughs at something they truly find funny, the diaphragm generates 2 to 5 distinct vibrational waves per second.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>To show that it works...<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>At Kansai University on February 21, the researchers publicly demonstrated the system by measuring the laughter of a 30-something-year-old woman and her 5-year-old daughter as they watched a performance by Yoshimoto comedians. The mother, who apparently found no humor in the comedy routine, experienced only slightly more than 0 aH of laughter, while her amused daughter experienced a hearty 42 aH.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I&rsquo;m looking forward to the release of Kimura&rsquo;s research paper in English.<\/p>\n<p class=\"alt\">See the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/mathematics\/laughing-scale-999#comments\" id=\"comms\">5 Comments<\/a> below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/mathematics\/laughing-scale-999\"><img src='\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/2008\/03\/laughter_sm2.jpg' alt='Laughing Indians' class='imgRt' \/><\/a>Kansai University researchers have developed a \"laughing scale\", using the \"aH\" unit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[125],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}