Why do we cry happy tears? The science behind this emotional paradox

By Michelle Spear, Professor of Anatomy, University of Bristol

Tears are usually seen as a sign of sadness or pain, but it’s not uncommon for people to cry during life’s most joyful moments: weddings, births, reunions, sporting triumphs, or even just an unexpected act of kindness.

These “happy tears” seem contradictory, but they offer a fascinating window into how the human brain handles intense emotion.

Crying is a complex biological response to emotional overload – and it doesn’t discriminate between good and bad feelings. Whether triggered by grief or elation, tears are often the result of our brain attempting to process more than…

Read complete article

~	Most of Australia’s conservation efforts ignore climate risks – here are 3 fixes

~	Tracking crime from the cradle: why some people keep breaking the law while most of us never do

~	Elon Musk promises more risky launches after sixth Starship failure

~	Yemen: A year on, Huthis must free UN, civil society staff

~	People with disability are dying from cancers we can actually prevent, our study shows

~	Friday essay: I’m an Aboriginal farmer. But a romanticised idea of agriculture writes Black people out of the farming story

~	NSW is again cleaning up after major floods. Are we veering towards the collapse of insurability?

~	Researchers created a chatbot to help teach a university law class – but the AI kept messing up

~	Google is going ‘all in’ on AI. It’s part of a troubling trend in big tech

~	Talk to Me was a rollercoaster, but the Philippou brothers’ Bring Her Back will trap you in a house of horrors