Science of Akubi (あくび - Yawn)

Yesterday I talked about the Japanese word "akubi" (あくび), which means "yawn."

Actually, no one has yet elucidated the mechanism of yawning.

Gordon at the State University of New York at Albany et al. has indicated an intriguing possibility that we yawn to control/cool our brains.

Also, it is known that yawning is sympathetic or contagious regardless of species, but no one has yes clarified the reason.

Anderson at the University of Stirling et al. has proposed a theory that the yawn could be an instinctual signal to inform the time to sleep among animals.

Incidentally, note that if you yawn a lot in a day, you could be sick.

あくびの科学

昨日は「あくび」という言葉について紹介しました。

実は、あくびが発生するメカニズムは、まだ解明されていません。

ニューヨーク州立大学オルバニー校のゴードンらは、あくびは脳の温度調節（脳の冷却）のために行われている可能性を示唆しています。

また、あくびは種を超えて伝染することが知られていますが、この原因もわかっていません。

スターリング大学のアンダーソンらは、眠る時間を互いに知らせるシグナルである説を提唱しています。

ちなみに、あくびの回数が異常に多い場合は、病気の可能性があるので注意して下さい。

• Yesterday I talked about the Japanese word "akubi" (あくび), which means "yawn."
• Yesterday I talked about the Japanese word "akubi" (あくび), which means "yawn."

  I personally think 'spoke' or 'wrote' works better here, but 'talked' isn't wrong.

• Actually, no one has yet elucidated the mechanism of yawning.
• Actually, no one has yet explained the mechanism of yawning.

  'Elucidate', in addition to sounding a bit wordy, lacks the nuance of 'discovered' that just plain old 'explained' has here.
  
  'No one has yet elucidated' to me sounds like someone knows already, they're just choosing not to tell us, rather than no one truly knows.

• has indicated an intriguing possibility that we yawn to control/cool our brains.
• has indicated an intriguing possibility that we yawn to control/cool our brains.

  'proposed' works better than 'indicated' here, but again, it's not wrong.

• Also, it is known that yawning is sympathetic or contagious regardless of species, but no one has yes clarified the reason.
• Also, it is known that yawning is sympathetic or contagious regardless of species, but no one has yet clarified the reason.

• has proposed a theory that the yawn could be an instinctual signal to inform the time to sleep among animals.
• has proposed a theory that the yawn could be an instinctual signal to inform that it's the time to sleep among animals.

• Incidentally, note that if you yawn a lot in a day, you could be sick.
• Incidentally, note that if you yawn a lot in the day, you could be sick.

I'd never really thought that much about yawning, to be honest. Interesting!