Wednesday, Dec. 07, 2011
What Are You Laughing At?
Science has yet to discover any whoopie cushions or teeny, tiny joy buzzers in the cicada world, but something's making the little bugs laugh — at least in the Philippines, where an expedition of researchers from the California Academy of Sciences this year discovered a species it dubbed the laughing cicada. The insects emit a piercing sound that eerily resembles a high-pitched laugh. "The local residents were afraid of them. They thought the laughter was from dwarves, laughing dwarves," said team member Terry Goslinger. Laugh, it seems, and the Philippines don't necessarily laugh with you.