The wheels hit the runway, the engines reverse, the cabin lurches slightly forward — and then, somewhere behind you, it ...

ITHACA, N.Y. — Every time you applaud at a concert or celebrate a touchdown, your hands are performing a feat of physics that scientists have puzzled over for decades. Cornell University researchers ...

How do you decide when to start clapping after a virtuoso performance? And when do you stop? New research finds the answer lies in what other people around you are doing. The louder the applause — ...

Scientists have finally unravelled the complex process that generates sound during handclaps, a discovery that shows how even simple acts can be rich with physics. The research, published in the ...

This post is co-authored by Ron Riggio and nonverbal communication expert Alan Crawley. When and why do we clap? We get startled, and we clap. We try to get our dog’s (or our child’s) attention, and ...