The highlight of my day — every day — is opening my window and yelling at the sky. By Amanda Hess Every night at 7, my Brooklyn neighborhood comes to life with the calculated whimsy of a cuckoo clock.

Before the Oscars ended with a surprise twist, the show gifted us a few funny memes. The biggest and best of these, perhaps, was Lion actress Nicole Kidman’s unusual clapping technique. Likened to the ...

What makes us clap more for some performances than others? You'd think it's obvious: The better the show, the more applause. Think again. Guest host Linda Wertheimer explores how and why applause ...

Nicole Kidman raised eyebrows at the Oscars with her unusual approach to applause, but now she’s set the record straight as to what was behind the seal-clapping. During last month’s Academy Awards, ...

Nearly every human culture uses clapping to cheer, protest, pray or perform – but a new study reveals that the familiar gesture is as much a scientific event as it is a social one. “This is the first ...