Wierd Science

I was reading a parenting-type magazine recently that talked about yawning. (try and read this post without doing it--I dare ya)

Anyway, did you know that evolutionary psychiatrists (two words to avoid in my book), have done studies to prove that yawning is actually our body's way of cooling down our brains? They say that for only weighing in at 3 percent of our body weight, the brain can burn up to 15 percent of the fuel used from our food. (so read Systematic Theology for a workout). All that extra heat supposedly can make the brain perform less effectively. So like the fan on my Dell, the body yawns to keep the ol' grey matter humming along at peak performance.

Test subjects that wore cool packs on their heads yawned less than those that didn't--while watching movies of people yawning-- according to Drs. Andrew and Gordon Gallup of the University of NY in Albany. They also claim that yawning is contagious because our brain notices other people who are going to be more alert than we are and it tries to catch up.

Hmmm, I dunno about that. I just want to know why my flesh starts yawning when I sit down to read my Bible. (I know, there's a battle going on). Maybe I need a cold pack.