Please don't yawn in front of me

Full disclosure: I just yawned while typing that title.

Here's the thing: I am very susceptible to yawning. If I see someone yawn in front of me, I am going to yawn back at them. And when I do, I really hope that they are not also susceptible to yawning, otherwise we have entered a very dangerous yawning loop from which no woman can escape.

I said "woman" in the paragraph above, because researchers have evidence that women are more likely to yawn back when they experience a "trigger yawn." It is quite possible this is because women are more empathetic than men. Or maybe we are just more tired because we get less sleep. Whatever the reason, there is one thing for certain:

We are spending time studying yawning.

I'm pretty sure that there is some other research that we could be using these great minds for. Not everyone can work on the cure for the latest disease, but I'm sure we could find some topics more useful than yawning. For example, here's a list of things that I spent less than two minutes putting together:

• Why do children's toys come with multiple volume buttons? Who wants those toys on "loud" mode all the time?
• How much peanut butter can you eat in one week before your diet is considered off-balance?
• Why does my son wake up extra early on the weekends, but have trouble waking up during school days?
• Why is it then when we are in a hurry, children take longer to get ready?

What items would you like for researchers to spend their free time on? Add to the list in the comments.