Why Do We Sneeze? (In Slow Motion!) | Earth Science

Greg Foot explains why we actually sneeze? By demonstrating, in slow motion!

Footnote 4 - Rhinology: Diseases of the nose, sinus and skull
Footnote 6 - Aristotle
Footnote 10 - Email from Prof. Larry Witmer and Ask a Dinosaur

[MadBurrito]

I was always wondering why i sneeze when i look at the Sun, now it's finally clear to me, lol, thanks for simple yet scientific explanation!

[multiskype]

can confirm, bright sunlight will often make me sneeze
good to know it's actually a thing and not just me being crazy

[drakan]

"Problems concerning the nose" is a pretty specific subject to make a book about

[Xenro]

I don't say "bless you" to someone who sneezes.. I just say "DISEASED!!!" :D

[Piasecznik]

You skipped one quite interesting fact. Eyes are being tightly shut to prevent eye injury. Try to force your eyes open when sneezing by fingers or any other safe means. Either you can't sneeze or you'll fail at keeping your eyes open.

[paddyrhcp]

I get this with lights... But it only makes people want to sneeze when they are already about to sneeze... Looking at lights burns your eyes then and makes your nose run helping me to sneeze...

[TheGeckoNinja]

milhouse: when you sneeze thats your soul trying to escape, saying god bless you crams it back in!

[TehJumpingJawa]

Driving to work in bright morning sunshine often caused me to sneeze. Combination of bright light, sleepiness and cool air?

[sbomorse]

I read somewhere that the reason people say 'bless you' when you sneeze, is down to the fact in ancient times people thought a sneeze was the soul trying to escape the body. By saying 'bless you' it stops your soul escaping.

[rinu]

I sneeze a lot with bright light, the brighter the more. I like to call myself allergic to light.
I had never heard of it from anywhere before, I had no idea it's so common. I don't know anyone else who has that.

[JosephRawsthorne]

I heard that your heart briefly stops when your sneezing???

[Amy_Dunn]

I sneeze because of bright light! So does my mother and sister (My dad does not.). It's nice to have when I feel like I need to sneeze, but can't so I look up at a bright light source. For me, when it happens, The sudden jolt of pain I feel in my eyes from a bright light feels like it travels through my tear ducts and into my nose. a feeling not unlike getting water up your nose while swimming.

[RaidenFreeman]

Interestingly, in modern Greece, people don't say bless you when someone sneezes! (they saying refers to health)

[corystallworth]

What about when your temperature drops? People tend to sneeze when you are cold.

[AitchGames]

So I have the Photic Sneeze Reflex and so does my sister, think my dad does too. We always thought it was genetic but my mum just thought we were mental...
Good to know a third of the rest of the world are on my side!!

[amandaengelman]

I can make myself sneeze by pinching the cartilage on the bridge of my nose where it meets the bone and wiggling. I also sneeze when my eyebrows are plucked.

[sandwich]

Forget to remove reverb from left speaker in post processing?

[nickrich]

Can we so easily recognize that a sneeze is physical yet strain to ascertain its potential multi-dimensional causes? Is a sneeze something that has evolved or just a way to blow out waste similar to a cough or fart? Bless you too.

[spartabagelz]

I sneeze while in the light after being in a darker room.

[tidmouthmilk]

I believe "Bless you" came from the times of the plague. You'd say it to a person who sneezed as a way of trying to get God to help rid them of their disease.