Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers blog

Laughter is a precious and almost uncontrollable feeling that can save from the tensest moments but also emerge in uncomfortable stressful situations. It’s a real blessing – some even insist it can be a source of good health!

So, more seriously, why do we laugh? Although we love Capn’ edib’s answer, there is a more scientific explanation as Aria T explains: “[we laugh] for stress relief as laughter releases endorphins and as a response to a situation that has caught you off guard. Physically, what happens when you laugh is a wild and sporadic contraction of many different muscles, a fluctuation of the diaphragm, the epiglottis half closes the larynx, and the tear ducts are activated.”

For centuries many have looked to find its origin and some people still claim Aristotle discovered the secret of laughter. While some people laugh at things other don’t find funny, there is always one way or another to make someone collapse into fits of giggles: tickling them often seems to do the job!

Yet we’ve found another question that has made us thinking whether the matter of the laughter is as serious as it seems: can we literally die of laughter? Now, that’s no joking matter at all.

Hey Community,

We have been listening to your feedback and have been working hard this summer to keep improving Answers. One change you may now notice is that we changed the Ask and Answer pages to incorporate tips to help you get the most out of Answers.

Now, when you ask or answer a question, you will see a yellow speech bubble giving you some tips:

If there is any spelling mistake (you know, we all type too fast sometimes), you will be warned and, with help of the Spell Checker, be able to correct all mistakes.

Ignore, Change and click Done when ready. This will make your questions and answers look bright for sure!

We will also warn you if your caps lock is on… you know, in the Internet world, writing in capitals is often perceived as shouting and regarded as bad netiquette.

These are just a few of the tips we have for you. So what are you waiting for? Go discover them all and really make your answers shine!

For the experts amongst you who feel as though you don’t need any help, the tips can easily be closed. You only need to click on the “x” on the top right of the speech bubble and they are gone.

Don’t forget to leave your comments about these tips – we love hearing from you!