It doesn’t matter whether you’re feeling tired at that moment in time or not, if you’re in the company of someone else who happens to let out a massive yawn and you catch sight of it, it’s only a matter of seconds before you’re yawning too.
It’s unstoppable, and for some reason we have no control over it – but why does it happen?
Yawning is commonly assumed to be the result of trying to get more oxygen, with the average person said to yawn around 20 times each day – and that’s without catching a yawn from someone else – but a look into the science behind why we yawn in a study published in 1987 revealed that there is however no correlation between the urge to yawn and oxygen deprivation.
Instead, as we start to tire, our body yawns to give us a little kickstart.
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“As we become tired, especially when viewing uninteresting or non-interactive repetitive stimuli like a lecture, our body yawns as a means to ‘wake up’,” academic surgeon Dr Reyan Saghir told publication Real Simple.
“Studies have shown this to be true where an individual’s heart rate can be seen to rise and peak for 10-15 seconds post-yawn, similar to a kick of caffeine.”
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But that still doesn’t answer why it is that yawning is so-called contagious.
The answer to that is likely empathy.
The average person said to yawn around 20 times each day / Credit: Unsplash
Dr Saghir added: “As humans age, we enhance our psychosocial and neurological development, taking other individuals yawning as a cue that we should yawn as well.”
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This is called echophenomena, and isn’t only observable in humans either, as you’ve probably noticed chimpanzees, dogs, cats and a number of other animals let out a big yawn when others around them do too.
Dr Saghir continue: “Studies have shown yawning triggers the ‘mirror neurons’ in the right posterior inferior frontal gyrus of the brain, which are activated when performing goal-directed behavior for true imitation, making the yawning reflex physically impossible to resist as our brains are wired not to.
“As mentally healthy adults, our psychosocial development will make us yawn when others do, but in individuals lacking the correct mental development, the contagious effect of yawning is not seen.”
Did you also know, as Dr Saghir explains, that how close you are to someone emotionally rather than physically could have a role to play in how contagious a yawn is, adding that: “If a family member yawns, you’re more likely to yawn compared to a stranger [and] this is because of an empathic link our brains make that we empathise with the person yawning more and want to mirror their actions unintentionally.”
Featured Image – Unsplash
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Greater Manchester moorland fires still burning after more than two weeks
Emily Sergeant
Firefighters tackling moorland fires across Greater Manchester are still at work more than two weeks later.
Most notably, a blaze broke out on the evening of Saturday 11 July near the popular beauty spot of Dovestone Reservoir in Oldham, prompting a major multi-agency response with fire crews from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) working hard in challenging conditions to contain the fire and prevent further spread across the moorland.
Specialist wildfire resources, command support units, drone technology, and partner agencies were also deployed as operations continue across multiple sectors of the incident.
However, firefighters are tackling Dovestone on two fronts, as the fire at Saddleworth has gone on to merge with a fire at Tintwistle, and at Swineshaw.
Greater Manchester moorland fires are still burning after more than two weeks / Credit: GMFRS
The fires have burned hundreds of hectares of moorland, which is equivalent to the size of 1,250 football pitches, the landowner told BBC News.
The fire service said the rainfall and mist over the weekend had dampened the moorlands a bit, but despite this, the fires had not been extinguished and are still being classed as a ‘major incident’.
Three arrests have been made in connection to the Dovestone Reservoir fire, including one woman who has been charged.
20-year-old Shania Care-Slede, from Hyde has been charged with aggravated arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, and dangerous driving, and is next due to appear in court next month on 18 August.
“I’m incredibly proud of our firefighters, who have shown outstanding resilience and bravery this weekend to tackle these wildfires in challenging weather conditions and difficult terrain,” commented GMFRS’s head of response, Ben Levy.
“Their professionalism throughout this incident, alongside the invaluable support of our partners, has been exceptional.”
Featured Image – GMFRS
News
Man charged and named after two attempted rapes in Rochdale parks just hours apart
Emily Sergeant
A man has been charged after two attempted rapes took place in two Rochdale parks merely hours apart from each other.
He has also been publicly named as Harvey Symes, from Milnrow in Rochdale.
The 23-year-old black British national has been charged with two counts of attempted rape and threats to kill, and is due to appear at in Manchester and Salford Magistrates court today (27 July), Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has confirmed.
Symes was arrested and then subsequently charged after police received a report that a woman had been sexually assaulted in Rochdale’s Broadfield Park, by a man unknown to her, at around 6:15am on Saturday 25 July.
A second report was then made at 8:38am concerning the sexual assault of a woman in Milnrow Memorial Park – again with the victim reporting being attacked by a man she did not know.
Both victims provided GMP with a similar description of the suspect, leading police to believe the attacks were linked.
Investigation officers began their search for a black male believed to have been wearing a three piece suit or smart black clothes and a dark coat, and also carrying a briefcase, and as part of ongoing enquiries, they identified CCTV footage of a man matching the description in the Coco Lounge in Rochdale town centre – with the man leaving the venue at around 5am.
While Symes has now been arrested, charged, and publicly named, police are still appealing for anyone with information, and CCTV, dashcam, doorbell, or mobile phone footage from the Rochdale town centre, Broadfield Park, or Milnrow Memorial Park areas in the early hours of Saturday morning, to come forward.
The Manc -
21st September 2021 
