While studying laughter is serious work to researchers, it apparently sounds like a silly topic when they're seeking research grants. For that reason, Northwestern's Burgdorf avoids the word ...

ROWE: (Laughter). GARCES: That's one of our favorites. That's the word with which Maggie and I compare our different lives. It is the word for the distance in between us and our nearest cow.

It turns out that one word appeared far more often than you might expect. The word was: “Laughter.” It wasn’t that the speakers were actually saying the word; it’s that the transcripts ...