Goats prefer people when humans smile, study suggests

If you're happy and you know it so will a goat.

Researchers studied 20 goats that were shown pairs of images of the same person's face with happy or angry expressions.

Goats were more likely to interact with the happy images. They would approach them and explore them with their snouts.

This was particularly true when the happy faces were placed on the right of the test, suggesting the goats use the left hemisphere of their brains to process positive emotions.

Study authors say the results have important implications for how we interact with other species because it shows the abilities of animals to perceive human emotions might be widespread.

The findings were published August 29, in the journal "Royal Society Open Science."