New research has found a surprising physical reaction when hearing a baby's cry.

Scientists found that hearing an infant in distress activates the autonomic nervous system—the body's unconscious control system for functions like breathing and digestion—causing our faces to literally get hotter.

Since babies cannot speak, crying is their primary way of communicating pain or discomfort.

When distressed, they contract their ribcage forcefully, pushing out high-pressure air that makes their vocal cords vibrate in a chaotic way.

The result is what scientists call "nonlinear phenomena" (NLP)—complex, disharmonious sounds that are especially hard to ignore.

To test how adults respond, scientists played 23 different recordings of baby cries to 41 men and women with little to no infant-care e

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