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 ...

Finger claps have quietly taken over a swath of pop culture in the past year. The gesture — repeatedly tapping the thumb to a finger on the same hand — offers a silent way to show praise, like the ...

In Japanese Zen Buddhism, a verbal puzzle known as a “koan” is often used to frustrate the process of logical thought to encourage the student to look beyond the boundaries, or limitations, of their ...