Show someone a piece of rotting food and their reaction will be
visibly similar the world over. Their eyes will close, their
noses will wrinkle and their mouths will tighten, all part of a
universal expression of disgust. Darwin himself was struck by
the universal nature of human facial expressions – from the
busiest of cities to the most isolated of villages, smiles and
frowns are recognisable, done in the same way and carry the same
meaning. Facial expressions are massively important for the
social lives of humans and it should come as no surprise that
some parts of our brain are dedicated to interpreting the small
shifts in facial muscles that betray our emotions. In this
light, it makes sense that expressions should be universal, but
that doesn’t tell us why they take the form they do. Why is it a
smile that indicates happiness and not anger, or why should wide
eyes signify fear or surprise and not disgust? A new study
reveals part of the answer and shows that it’s not an arbitrary
fluke that certain emot