Rats

As It Happens5:59Artist trains rats to take selfies to make a point about social mediaWhen Augustin Lignier built a photo booth for rats, he was really trying to point the lens at humanity.The French artist trained two pet store rodents to take selfies in exchange for sweet treats. But over time, he says, they started doing it purely for the pleasure. He says it's not unlike the way people engage with social media — at first for the likes, but eventually just to trigger a flood of feel-good chemicals in our brains. "It's…

Recalling past events – what happened, when, and where – is a skill only humans were thought to possess.This 'mental time travel' is called episodic memory, and some experts have long argued it sets us apart from other animals, in the way we can make decisions or strategize for the future based on what we've learned in the past.Yet some animal behavior experts don't think humans are unique in this regard. For decades, they have argued that all sorts of animals have episodic-like memories.Birds store food underground and…

In 2017, scientists discovered a new species of giant rat that can reportedly crack open coconuts. Now, this extremely rare creature has been captured in the wild on camera for the first time.Locals living on the Solomon Islands have long told stories of huge rats that scurry around in the trees, and it was even claimed they could chew into coconuts with their teeth. Whether or not such animals really existed, or whether people were misidentifying known rat species, remained a mystery.That is until 2017, when a team of…

CLIMATEWIRE | Just a year ago, the tiny islet of Irooj in the Marshall Islands was crawling with invasive rats. The hungry rodents had been on the rampage there for decades, gobbling up native seabird eggs and threatening the local biodiversity. But as of March, the little island has been declared rat-free. That’s thanks to a yearlong campaign to eradicate the rodents and restore the island to its natural condition. The effort was conducted by the Republic of the Marshall Islands' Ministry of Natural Resources and…

Boosie Badazz isn’t shying away from sharing his thoughts on Fugees rapper Pras, who faces up to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty for his participation in a conspiracy scheme in which millions of dollars were used to influence U.S. government officials. During a new appearance on VladTV, Boosie was asked about Pras. The Baton Rouge MC wasn’t surprised at Pras’ cooperation with the feds, as the 40-year-old claims the music industry is ridden with rats, including “90 percent of rappers.” Pras has denied being an…

Researchers used artificial intelligence to teach rats how to move objects in virtual reality by simply thinking about where they want them to go.  The result is an intriguing type of rat telekinesis that could help us better understand how the brain works. The experiment is detailed in a new study currently available on the preprint server bioRxiv. The investigation was led by Albert Lee and his colleagues at Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Virginia. As New Scientist reports, Lee and his colleagues set out…

Giant African pouched rats are as clever as they are cute. Trained them to wear little backpacks, they can rescue people from disaster areas in return for a treat.They can also find landmines that need disarming, sniff out tuberculosis, and have even been recruited in the fight against wildlife poaching.So handy are these intelligent mammals, we can't seem to breed enough of them. It's not just a problem with demand – the supply is also mysteriously limited.While many fellow rodents are notorious for their ability to…

A recent study published in mBio reveals that rats can be infected with Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2, with wild rats in New York City being exposed to the virus. The findings emphasize the importance of monitoring rat populations for potential secondary transmission to humans. The study’s principal investigator, Dr. Henry Wan, stresses the need for better understanding of the role animals play in pandemics to safeguard both human and animal health.A new study has demonstrated that rats are susceptible…

Healthy mitochondria, those tiny cellular structures high school biology teachers often tout as “the powerhouses of the cell,” are a necessity for producing energy in the body—but new research supports the idea that they are more than just adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–pumping machines. For about a decade, scientists have experimented with transplanting these microscopic organelles to treat damaged hearts and other tissues, and they have seen a handful of successful outcomes in human trials. But the role mitochondria play…

Kundan Shah, who is best known for the film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), a masterpiece of dark comedy that he wrote and directed, is the protagonist of I Know the Psychology of Rats. Written by Saeed Mirza, the filmmaker who gave us Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai (1980), and Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1987), this work of non-fiction is as much about friendship as it is about cinema. This ten-chapter volume, a tribute to Shah, who died in 2017, is a must-read for filmmakers, scholars of cinema, and audiences keen to know…