Scientists find funniest fake fart noise
Boffins investigating why we laugh at whoopee cushions say they have got to the bottom of what makes faux flatulence funny.
The researchers from Salford University used over 34,000 people to rate how funny 20 different noises were.
They discovered that longer whiny fart noises are likely to make us laugh more ... with the optimum fake fart length being seven seconds.
Acoustics Professor Trevor Cox said: "The Whoopee Cushion has a great deal in common with the human voice and how instruments work, so it is a memorable way of portraying the principles of acoustics."
Asked what practical application could arise from his academic reserach the prof said they could "engineer the ultimate whoopee cushion" ... at least he is honest about it.
Three out of the top five sounds whichscored full marks for funniness were classified as ‘whiny.’
The study also found that women find whoopee cushions funnier than men and that faux fart sounds get less funny as you get older. Europeans also laugh more at whoopee cushions than Americans.
The research was carried out to help raise money for Comic Relief which features the whoopee cushion alongside the traditional red nose this year.
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