Huh? Appears to Be Universally Understood
What's the most universal utterance in languages across the globe?
Huh? —Correct! —Huh? —That's right. —HUH? —Exactly.
Because a new study finds that everybody around the world does indeed say huh?
The finding is in the journal PLOS One.
The researchers were exploring linguistic tools people use to assure fluid communication.
In this case, they were looking for an interjection that signals that a listener missed something,
then prompts the speaker to repeat or rephrase the original statement.
In other words, something that works like the English word Huh?
So they eavesdropped on nearly 200 conversations in 10 different tongues, from Italian to Icelandic.
And they found that, in language after language, a word that sounds a lot like huh? gets the job done.
For example. Eh? Eh? Eh? It's short and sweet so it's likely to stop the speaker before the listener gets too lost.
And it sounds like a question so it warrants a response.
The sound appears not to be innate.
Babies don't use it before they say mama.
But most five-year-olds are masters of "huh?" No matter where they come from.
Global Warming Freezes Penguin Chicks
Life isn't easy for a penguin chick.
There's a lot to worry about: predators, having enough food, and now the changing climate.
Researchers spent nearly thirty years tracking chicks at Punta Tombo, the world's largest colony of Magellanic penguins.
They found that increased rainfall and extreme heat due to climate change are killing chicks.
The study is in the journal PLOS ONE.
Down-covered chicks are too big to receive parental protection from the elements,
but are not old enough to have grown protective waterproof feathers.
So they get soaked to the skin during rainstorms and die of hypothermia.
Their downy feathers do them a disservice during heat waves too,
since they can't go for a swim to cool off until their waterproof feathers grow in.
Chicks not getting enough food are even more susceptible to the elements, as they lack the fuel to maintain their body temperature.
Storms during breeding season are already on the rise, and are expected to keep increasing.
So climate change will likely pose a challenge not only in Magellanic penguins, but other seabirds as well.
It'll be sink or swim.