Accoring to today's AFP article and recent Asahi and Yomiuri articles (see the links above), Kansai University Professor Yoji Kimura has developed a machine to measure laughter by unit "aH." To measure laughter, he attaches sensors on the skin of the part of the body that moves with laugher. What is interesting is that by using this machine one can tell if a person is really laughing or just pretending. He has spent about 6 million yen to develop this machine and is now applying for a patent. It sounds like this is not a laughing matter.