Dear Ms. Scientist,
Why do we yawn?
—Morgan N.
One recent theory attempts to unify many of them: Yawning helps chill the brain and prevent overheating. The movements involved in yawning increase blood flow around the brain as well as allow cool air to pass through the sinuses next to brain, allowing heat to escape. Cooler brains also help people focus which may be why yawns are contagious. If a group needs to concentrate on something, yawning could be a mechanism to get everyone to become more alert. This theory has yet to be experimentally tested, but other studies reveal that people yawn more when the room is warmer as body temperatures rise right before yawning.
Dear Ms. Scientist,
Why do stars twinkle?
—Pat G.
Twinkling stars, or astronomical scintillation, is caused when the light from a star refracts many times through many thick layers of gases in the atmosphere. By the time the star’s light approaches our eyes, it is hard to see any details that make all the stars in the universe different and they all appear as small shiny lights. Not only are we as observers moving, but the atmospheric layers are also moving around. As a result, the star’s light changes its refractions and a twinkling appearance results.
Ask Ms. Scientist is written by Corinne Thornton. If you have a burning science question you want her to answer,
tweet @DC_Science or email it to
science@dailycardinal.com.
