Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for July 17, 2013
July 16, 2013
July 18, 2013
Transcript:
The founders of Adidas and Puma shoes were estranged German brothers, Adolph and Rudolph Dassler, who fell out with each other in 1948! Believe it or not! Nobody actually knows why we yawn! Zeng Jia, 22, from Hubei, China, recently staged her own funeral so that she could see what people thought of her.
More From Ripley's Believe It or Not
Two things were observed about people who yawned in a lab study, carried out in the late 60’s – a) they were physically inactive for an extended period, b) when they yawned, they invariably inhaled deeply. Sensors attached to then revealed their heart rate slowed, and their breathing also slowed, and became more shallow. Two things were tried – when some one felt a yawn coming, they were instructed to preemptively inhale deeply. It usually prevented the yawn, and always minimized it. Additonal deep breaths staved off further yawning, which was deemed to be easier, and less obvious, in class. Subsequent blood analysis revealed it was less a matter of reduced oxygen, and more due to elevated levels of CO2 in the blood. Much later, as the study of the brain revealed more about what actions/reactions/responses were triggered by which part of the brain, the area of the brain that has to do with wakefulness and alertness was found to be particularly sensitive to elevated CO2 levels.