Rats are definitely cunning and clever. Used to own pet rats, and learned a lot about how and why their cages are designed the way they are...suffice it to say I also learned how to get a rat to come BACK once it's escaped, haha! They definitely learn from observing their environment and they have distinct personalities, and wants, just like most of the pets I've interacted with. Our oldest male, Charlie, was a complete clown, always doing little things to get attention, I think he liked when we laughed. He also stole my stepfather's cigarettes and tore them apart, which I thought was great. Then our youngest female (Charlie's grand-daughter) was a cute little albino, and she was "mine" - in that she preferred coming over to me most of the time. She loved cuddling and sitting on my shoulder, which wasn't something Charlie was ever a big fan of. She also had a habit of trying to groom me, including attempting to stick her head in my mouth for some reason (and no, not when I was eating). I no longer have the option of owning that sort of pet - even a goldfish is more than I can handle these days - but I do fondly recall those rats back in my childhood.
Rats use the subway lol. Im not sure if its calculated and intentional but with their insane memory mapping skills and general intelligence i wouldnt be surprised if they did...
RAT = Rats Are Terrific! In my 40s I had pet rats, up to 7 at once, all females. Four were "lab rescues"; white Sprague-Dawley rats bred for immunological and metabolic studies, all of whom were sweet, but were dumber than a box of rocks (presumably raised in isolation with minimal stimulation). The other three were pet store purchases with dappled fur, two of which were bought at the same time by me and my girlfriend at the time, which she later gave to me, and one from a neighbor whose kids got bored with it. I tried to train all the rats, though the 4 lab rats could only be minimally trained. Those 4 were trained to never leave the table their cage was on by using "aversion" training: Pushing them to the edge of the table until they fought to avoid the edge. A few repetitions was all that was needed to make them very reticent to leave the table. The other three rats did better, so I started training them for "house freedom", which basically meant a handful of behaviors: 1. No chewing on electrical cords. 2. No chewing on furniture, doors or base moulding. 3. No food hoarding away from the cage. 4. Come when called. 5. No urination or defecation away from the cage. Of the three, two didn't earn house freedom, so I also aversion-trained them to stay on the table.. But one rat was hugely intelligent, certainly dog-level, perhaps higher. Training her was an absolute treat. She even had a quirky personality, and actually seemed to like to make me laugh. For example, during training all the rats liked to climb electrical cords, and most would nibble the cord, presumably to see if it was good climbing or eating material. In the training I used either a clicker or a tap on the head to indicate desired or unwanted behaviors. I tapped the head of my smart girl once when she first nibbled a cord. The next time she approached the cord, she paused with one paw grasping it, then looked at me, as though waiting for permission to climb. So of course I clicked, as climbing cords was OK. But I wasn't sure if she was clear on the nibbling versus the climbing. So I laid a cord on the floor, and she came up to it, put a paw on it, and again looked at me. Yup, she understood! I kept my home very clean for her, but also would bust her when I found some of her piddle. It turned out that it is nigh-on impossible to train a rat not to mark her domain. That's why it's at the end of the above list. We finally negotiated that she wouldn't mark carpets or rugs, and I decided to call that a win. Since she had earned house freedom, I then had to train her how to leave the cage table and return to it, which involved a leap the other rats had been trained not to attempt. Easily done by placing a chair just the right distance away. The first night she had full freedom, I was awakened by her frantically squeaking from the floor next to my bed, Turned out she wanted to be up on the bed with me! I built her a ramp of pillows, so she also had free run of my bed. We developed a nighttime routine: I often read in bed before going to sleep, usually on my side, and she loved to fill the small open space between my shoulder and the pillow. Which she would promptly vacate when I rolled onto my back. Similarly, she soon learned I responded to my alarm, and would be in my room in a flash the moment it sounded. Then things got weird. If it was a holiday or weekend the alarm would not go off. So she'd take it upon herself to climb onto my pillow and lick my face and ears until I woke up! Not at all a bad way to start a day off. Then I got the flu and was home sick. She tended me like a nurse. She groomed my hair, and slept on my chest. I finally figured out she was treating me as if I were her cub: She was mothering me. She was aware of my illness, particularly my fever. She even brought me food from her cage! I briefly feared she had broken her training, until I realized she hadn't eaten it or hidden it: She did it for me. Female rats tend to get mammary tumors, and my rats were no exception. I paid for many rat surgeries, and forced myself to ignore the cost. It wasn't small. After the first year all the rats started showing their age, and during the second year they started to die, one by one. Some fell ill, and when the antibiotics didn't work, I'd have them put to sleep. Others grew too feeble to feed themselves, or started showing pain responses, and I had them put to sleep as well. Still others just, well, ended, often during the night or while I was at work. Those little deaths, one after another, nearly broke me. When my smart girl was approaching her end, I stayed home and held her in my hands until her last breath. I haven't had rats since. The bright joy of their lives didn't outweigh, for me, the agony of their all-too-soon deaths. I was and am so overwhelmingly grateful to have had the ones I had. Wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
Wonderful story! 🐭🥺💖 I felt the same after the death of our family dog, whom we all loved like a true family member. I haven't kept a pet since; it just doesn't feel right. Perhaps one day, if I can make a safe and happy home for a couple of rescue dogs to keep each other company when I'm not around, but I love animals too much to 'keep' them as mere amusements without being able to (yet) properly provide a 'more-wonderful-than-not' life for them.
Would you want to be trained tricks? Rats are too independent to do them. They have their ultrasound communication. Traumatized rats and people and dogs can be seen as "dum" if one looks them with no empathy.
Yes!! I have two rats myself that I bottle raised and they are super smart... plus, they have really distinct personalities. I was able to train one of them to "stand and beg" and "spin around" when he was only about 6 weeks old 💙💙💙
A few animals I can think of for this series are cats, raccoons, otters, and ferrets (although other weasels would work too). Also I can think of wolverines.
There was an experiment to train.. what was it? Pigeons I think, to be the guiding system of bombs. And suicide-anti-tank dogs. You're not that far off!
@@arthanor9631 soviet russia ended their suicide anti-tank dog programm since these dogs tend to get scared on the battlefield and run back to their handlers with unwanted results. but to name another animalprogramm, rats have been trained to smell patients for tuberculosis and hit a button if found. this programm was started for poorcountries and works pretty well.
Consider this: Animals have various levels of intelligence but what humans fail to consider is that animals have their own culture and free will. Not all animals comunicate in the same way as human but by the senses and expressions they feel suits them.
Not a rat, but a cousin: My chinese hamster learned he has three types of bedding material, and that one makes a sound that can wake me up if he throws it in the very narrow space between his door and the walls for air to come in. He does this when his water runs out during the night, or if when taking a sand bath the sand gets in his water or food, or even if there's anything in his space that he doesn't like. Oh! and when there's anything wrong and I won't wake up he burrows the hard pellets of bedding under his wheel so when he runs on it it makes a noise that wakes me up so I can fix it for him. He stays mad at me for days when I change anything in his enclosure and will make a gigantic mess in the acrylic door and my desk by puffing out the sand from the sand bath. He also knows I won't refill his bowl of seeds and food unless he eats the feed pellets he doesn't like, so he'll burrow under his house the pellets and I only found it out when I saw him doing it (no he wasn't stashing food, he stashes his favorite treats inside his little house).
@@timefortea1931 I trained my guinea pigs to ring a bell when they want more food. It turned out they actually trained me to bring them food when they ring the bell.
Not a surprise for anyone who has had a pet rat. They're intelligent, and can surprise you. I wonder if one could learn to get on the 'net with a phone? The Ratmobile needs a sound system...
Got here from It's Okay To Be Smart's "Speed of Thought" episode! Hey ya! 👋😅 I love animals and have always thought -- ever since I was a young child growing up with our family dog (who was born just before I was, and was therefore my dear 'sister' in our family, as far as I was concerned! She lived to the grand old age of 17, but we remember her very fondly! 🥺💭🐶💕🥰) -- that non-human animal minds are much closer to human minds than most people acknowledge. For instance, our dog was especially smart and very very loving and affectionate. Although she herself couldn't talk with words, and couldn't process language nearly as well as we could, she *could* understand some words and certainly could understand quite a bit of body language and the expression of many emotions. Thus, in my experience, our human minds -- and human intelligence as a special subset of human minds -- are not 'different in kind' to non-human animal minds, but rather 'different in degree'. Surely, especially in terms of intelligence, we are by far and away the most intelligent species on our shared home planet, but again, it's just a difference in degree, not kind. We are not the fastest animals, but we are 'fast' to a certain degree. We're not the strongest, in fact individually we are quite weak, but again only 'weak' or 'strong' in degree, not in kind. Etc. You get the distinction I'm trying to make: Humans are extremely intelligent, but all animals with brains (even some without distinct brains, such as jellyfish) have *some* *_degree_* of intelligence, however 'intelligence' might be operationally defined. Even if, as in the case of say jellyfish, that degree is very small in comparison to our own, it's still a non-zero degree on the 'scale' of degrees of 'intelligence'. Thus, I've long, long been interested in non-human animal intelligence, and I'm delighted to find a TH-cam channel with some focus on the subject, especially if it presents actual science in the accessible but not-dumbed-down way that I've found and appreciated with other PBS YT channels such as PBS Spacetime and PBS Eons. Looking forward to the growth and success of this channel, and to the hopefully many wonderful episodes (especially related to animal intelligence, but I love any and all science, so it's all good in my book) in the future! Cheers and best wishes!
I've had a number of pet rats. They're smart, funny and very affectionate. Easy to train. But I didn't know they liked being tickled!😄 Will tickle the next one.
Please don't get "a rat" as a pet. As mentioned in the video, they are social. Please, get a group of rats if you want to have rats as pets, NOT a single rat. Your rats will be much happier.
@@thycauldron actually 4 or 5 as minimum for a good group. 3 for something that just barely counts. In nature, they live in quite large groups. So, if you want them to be able to express their complete repertoire of behavior, you need to give them more than just 1-2 other rats to interact with. Best way to house them is to convert a big wardrobe into a cage by replacing the doors with wire mesh doors. Once you're going to convert a big wardrobe, it's usually spacious enough for 5 rats anyway, so don't just go for 2-3. Furniture conversions also look much nicer in your room than those (usually far too small and much more expensive) commercially sold cages. I'm a hamster person myself and the one hamster I currently have has about 6 sq ft in a nice DIY vivarium made from a couple of TV units (those storage things that go under a TV) along one wall of our living room. She loves it! My goals in pet keeping are more along the lines of typical exotic pet owners than what the typical "I just want a fluffy animal" pet owner does. So, more research into what they do in nature and trying to replicate that as best as possible at home. So, lots of space for animals that move a lot, more than 3 inches to dig for digging animals, I even have red dusk simulation LED lights because hamsters are actually crepuscular, not 100% nocturnal. Which also means I get to see my hamster before I turn off all lights completely because she comes out during the "fake dusk". :)
@@TheFeldhamster that's awesome, thank you! I had mice once and we build a three storey home in an IKEA ivar cupboard thingy where they had plenty of room for hiding, running and digging. Though as far as I remember it was tricky to get it to a stage where the urine didn't ruin the wood (we used plastic glass as layers but it leaked through every tiny gap). What you say completely makes sense, though I get the feeling I don't have enough space to provide such a large / appropriate home somewhere in mine - which is rather small itself :( So, no pets for us.
And yet rats are used in countless medical experiments everyday. As someone who kept rats for years I could tell you all about how intelligent, empathetic and strong willed they are, as any rat owner could. I don't know how anyone could experiment on them.
Breaks my heart that rats are abused in this way. I adore rats. I had 2 girls who have since died. I will always miss them. Rats are my fave animals. They are just so special.
@@TraceDominguez There is no excuse for animal testing cruelty. People are also excellent study material, actually much better than any other animal species, and the Na*is learnt a lot about how human body works when they experimented on the prisoners in con. camps. It doesn´t mean it was a right thing to do and we should repeat the same mistakes.
I would like an IQ episode on ferrets! i always questioning if there's a difference of IQ between males and females. I can train my male really easily, he learn a trick in litteraly 10 minutes and he remember everything. my female just learned what's a treat and she's almost 2 years old! (i'm trying everyday). xD
It could be male and female but it could also simply be that your male rat happens to be smart for a ferret or your female is stupid compared to most other females. It would take extensive testing to show any real results. In dogs tho much research has been done and it clearly shows that not only do some breeds have far more IQ than others but that even within the breed the IQ can vary a great deal.
May I suggest using less 'goofy' type of background music, especially when trying to communicate the *reality* of animal intelligence? Many many people dismiss non-human animal intelligence, and the subconscious association with 'bumbling around' type of music with animal behaviours, while popular, at best does not help with that misperception, and at worst probably contributes to it. I'd prefer to hear something more 'respectful' or even 'awe-inspiring' or 'wondrous' -- something that makes me more likely to say, "Wow, that's so cool!" rather than, "Aww, that's so cute/funny/silly!" Just a suggestion. 😊
Long-term learning sounds interesting to me… Maybe different approaches, in addition to behaviorism, depending on the animals’ individual/group features will be helpful for answering the question?🤔🤔 Thank you for sharing this interesting video! 🤗👍 🔆AniFam〽️
Perhaps there is a metric that is missing. You discuss that rats are social, at least empathetic and with memory for past favors, etc. and then also brain to body size as an indicator of individual potential intelligence, but what about the collective intelligence of a group of a species working together. Perhaps a species doesnt need a larger brain to body size, if it works together collectively. So there should be a metric for how well animals solve problems working together as a team. We see numerous examples of this when animals hunt, or for example ants form bridges, etc. Perhaps humans are no longer number one, when it comes to working together to achieve a goal compared to other species that are less competitive and more willing to make sacrifices for the group, etc. There should be some testing for groups of a species solving a problem....
I second this request. It is best to be open and transparent (and honest and humble!) especially when it comes to science. It's not an 'urgent' request, IMHO, but an 'important' one that hopefully could be addressed clearly at some point in the future.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:01 🧠 *Introduction to Neurons and Thought Process* - Introduction to neurons and their role in transmitting signals. - Explanation of how neurons work and the concept of electricity in the brain. - Overview of the microscopic activity inside nerve cells. 01:25 🐎 *Historical Context: Communication Speed and Neuronal Signaling* - Comparison between historical communication challenges and cellular communication. - Introduction to William Henry Harrison's inauguration and communication limitations. - Explanation of how neurons solve the problem of long-distance communication in the body. 03:42 ⚡ *Discovery of Neuronal Electricity: Galvani and Volta's Experiments* - Overview of Luigi Galvani's experiments with frog legs and electricity. - Introduction of Alessandro Volta and his invention of the voltaic pile. - Explanation of the concept of "animal electricity" and the discovery of living electricity in organisms. 06:31 🔋 *Understanding Battery Functionality: Volta's Contribution* - Explanation of Volta's experiments and the invention of the first battery. - Demonstration of building a voltaic pile with household items. - Explanation of how batteries work based on the separation of charges and the flow of electrons. 08:55 🐜 *Experimentation with Neuronal Stimulation: Cockroach Leg and Music* - Demonstration of stimulating a cockroach leg with homemade battery voltage. - Experimentation with musical stimulation of the cockroach leg. - Replication of early neuroscience experiments using simple materials. 10:45 🔊 *Detection of Neuronal Activity: Action Potential and Neurotransmission* - Introduction to detecting neuronal signals without external electricity. - Explanation of action potential and its role in transmitting electrical signals. - Overview of neuron structure and the process of neurotransmission. 12:10 🧪 *Neuron Anatomy and Functionality* - Description of neuron anatomy, including dendrites, axons, and synapses. - Comparison of neuron sizes across different animals. - Introduction to the action potential and its significance in neuroscience. 13:32 ⚡ *Action Potential Mechanism: Separation of Charges and Ionic Movements* - Explanation of the action potential mechanism based on the movement of ions. - Introduction to the concept of membrane potential and its role in neuronal activity. - Description of the sodium-potassium pump and its contribution to maintaining neuronal equilibrium. 16:49 🏃♂️ *Speed of Neuronal Signaling* - Comparison of neuronal signal speeds to everyday objects like cars and airplanes. - Explanation of the variation in signal speeds among different types of nerve fibers. - Overview of the factors influencing the speed of thought in the nervous system. 18:38 🧬 *Neurons: Remarkable Cells of the Body* - Summary of neurons' remarkable properties and functionalities. - Reflection on the significance of neurons in understanding the universe. - Encouragement for curiosity and further exploration of science content. Made with HARPA AI
You're training them to do a bunch of stuff that humans do.. don't you realize they have FAR GREATER challenges just living their lives out in NATURE??
If this research can help women become better drivers I'm all for it. What I don't understand is why scientists need to do research to find out animals are smart. I think they should do research and get grants to find out why they need to do research and get grants to find that animals are smart. Is there a problem with their own cognitive abilities? Can something be done to improve their own intelligence?
Doing an episode on rats, and then only lab rats, is kind of lame. These aren't like chimps raised in captivity or something, these are an entirely different genetic population than wild rats, bred for over a century to be good study subjects.
The domesticated animals are always dumber than their wild ancestors, so these lab rats driving cars are nothing compared to the wild rats who live in much more stimulating environment than a sterile lab.
if you biologically engineered them to live 30 years theyd take over the world 🤣 see the other thing to think about is rats only live like 2 years. so they are this intelligent that quickly. like by 6 months they are doing full grown dog stuff lol.
That jar car is without equivocation, the coolest thing I've seen all year.
That was the cutest thing when they played back the little rat laughter while he was being tickled. Just adorable!
Rats are definitely cunning and clever. Used to own pet rats, and learned a lot about how and why their cages are designed the way they are...suffice it to say I also learned how to get a rat to come BACK once it's escaped, haha! They definitely learn from observing their environment and they have distinct personalities, and wants, just like most of the pets I've interacted with.
Our oldest male, Charlie, was a complete clown, always doing little things to get attention, I think he liked when we laughed. He also stole my stepfather's cigarettes and tore them apart, which I thought was great. Then our youngest female (Charlie's grand-daughter) was a cute little albino, and she was "mine" - in that she preferred coming over to me most of the time. She loved cuddling and sitting on my shoulder, which wasn't something Charlie was ever a big fan of. She also had a habit of trying to groom me, including attempting to stick her head in my mouth for some reason (and no, not when I was eating). I no longer have the option of owning that sort of pet - even a goldfish is more than I can handle these days - but I do fondly recall those rats back in my childhood.
dang that's a really cute and a nice story
4:57 “Just like humans, rats are extremely social” I think rats are way more social than me LOL
My new insult: "Hey dummy, rats drive better than you!"
I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you.
Hey, didn't have to call me out like that
Thats not saying much with most people driving these days
Maybe next they'll learn to take the subway! Arguably harder than driving in New York...
Google "rat on subway" and you find pkenty yt Videos of just that.
@@PixieStixx Haha, good point! I think rats may have us beat when it comes to the subterranean life! 😄
Rats use the subway lol. Im not sure if its calculated and intentional but with their insane memory mapping skills and general intelligence i wouldnt be surprised if they did...
RAT = Rats Are Terrific!
In my 40s I had pet rats, up to 7 at once, all females. Four were "lab rescues"; white Sprague-Dawley rats bred for immunological and metabolic studies, all of whom were sweet, but were dumber than a box of rocks (presumably raised in isolation with minimal stimulation). The other three were pet store purchases with dappled fur, two of which were bought at the same time by me and my girlfriend at the time, which she later gave to me, and one from a neighbor whose kids got bored with it.
I tried to train all the rats, though the 4 lab rats could only be minimally trained. Those 4 were trained to never leave the table their cage was on by using "aversion" training: Pushing them to the edge of the table until they fought to avoid the edge. A few repetitions was all that was needed to make them very reticent to leave the table.
The other three rats did better, so I started training them for "house freedom", which basically meant a handful of behaviors:
1. No chewing on electrical cords.
2. No chewing on furniture, doors or base moulding.
3. No food hoarding away from the cage.
4. Come when called.
5. No urination or defecation away from the cage.
Of the three, two didn't earn house freedom, so I also aversion-trained them to stay on the table..
But one rat was hugely intelligent, certainly dog-level, perhaps higher. Training her was an absolute treat. She even had a quirky personality, and actually seemed to like to make me laugh. For example, during training all the rats liked to climb electrical cords, and most would nibble the cord, presumably to see if it was good climbing or eating material. In the training I used either a clicker or a tap on the head to indicate desired or unwanted behaviors. I tapped the head of my smart girl once when she first nibbled a cord. The next time she approached the cord, she paused with one paw grasping it, then looked at me, as though waiting for permission to climb. So of course I clicked, as climbing cords was OK. But I wasn't sure if she was clear on the nibbling versus the climbing. So I laid a cord on the floor, and she came up to it, put a paw on it, and again looked at me. Yup, she understood!
I kept my home very clean for her, but also would bust her when I found some of her piddle. It turned out that it is nigh-on impossible to train a rat not to mark her domain. That's why it's at the end of the above list. We finally negotiated that she wouldn't mark carpets or rugs, and I decided to call that a win.
Since she had earned house freedom, I then had to train her how to leave the cage table and return to it, which involved a leap the other rats had been trained not to attempt. Easily done by placing a chair just the right distance away.
The first night she had full freedom, I was awakened by her frantically squeaking from the floor next to my bed, Turned out she wanted to be up on the bed with me! I built her a ramp of pillows, so she also had free run of my bed. We developed a nighttime routine: I often read in bed before going to sleep, usually on my side, and she loved to fill the small open space between my shoulder and the pillow. Which she would promptly vacate when I rolled onto my back.
Similarly, she soon learned I responded to my alarm, and would be in my room in a flash the moment it sounded. Then things got weird. If it was a holiday or weekend the alarm would not go off. So she'd take it upon herself to climb onto my pillow and lick my face and ears until I woke up! Not at all a bad way to start a day off.
Then I got the flu and was home sick. She tended me like a nurse. She groomed my hair, and slept on my chest. I finally figured out she was treating me as if I were her cub: She was mothering me. She was aware of my illness, particularly my fever. She even brought me food from her cage! I briefly feared she had broken her training, until I realized she hadn't eaten it or hidden it: She did it for me.
Female rats tend to get mammary tumors, and my rats were no exception. I paid for many rat surgeries, and forced myself to ignore the cost. It wasn't small.
After the first year all the rats started showing their age, and during the second year they started to die, one by one. Some fell ill, and when the antibiotics didn't work, I'd have them put to sleep. Others grew too feeble to feed themselves, or started showing pain responses, and I had them put to sleep as well. Still others just, well, ended, often during the night or while I was at work. Those little deaths, one after another, nearly broke me. When my smart girl was approaching her end, I stayed home and held her in my hands until her last breath.
I haven't had rats since. The bright joy of their lives didn't outweigh, for me, the agony of their all-too-soon deaths.
I was and am so overwhelmingly grateful to have had the ones I had. Wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
Wonderful story! 🐭🥺💖 I felt the same after the death of our family dog, whom we all loved like a true family member. I haven't kept a pet since; it just doesn't feel right. Perhaps one day, if I can make a safe and happy home for a couple of rescue dogs to keep each other company when I'm not around, but I love animals too much to 'keep' them as mere amusements without being able to (yet) properly provide a 'more-wonderful-than-not' life for them.
Wow- the female rat you described was not only incredibly intelligent but very empathetic too.
Ok
Smort rat
Would you want to be trained tricks? Rats are too independent to do them. They have their ultrasound communication. Traumatized rats and people and dogs can be seen as "dum" if one looks them with no empathy.
Yes!! I have two rats myself that I bottle raised and they are super smart... plus, they have really distinct personalities. I was able to train one of them to "stand and beg" and "spin around" when he was only about 6 weeks old 💙💙💙
I like how casual that rat enter in his tiny car, to drive a car was obviously a reward for him.
Could you please do an episode on Octopuses? They are wonderful creatures and more intelligent than people give them credit for
Rats are so darn cute
RIGHT?
A few animals I can think of for this series are cats, raccoons, otters, and ferrets (although other weasels would work too). Also I can think of wolverines.
So with the proper training, we can skip the billions being spent on self driving cars, and just have rats driving us around. :) /s
There was an experiment to train.. what was it? Pigeons I think, to be the guiding system of bombs. And suicide-anti-tank dogs. You're not that far off!
Welcome to the next rat race :)
@@arthanor9631 soviet russia ended their suicide anti-tank dog programm since these dogs tend to get scared on the battlefield and run back to their handlers with unwanted results. but to name another animalprogramm, rats have been trained to smell patients for tuberculosis and hit a button if found. this programm was started for poorcountries and works pretty well.
Consider this: Animals have various levels of intelligence but what humans fail to consider is that animals have their own culture and free will.
Not all animals comunicate in the same way as human but by the senses and expressions they feel suits them.
i love humans but feel so sad when thinking that we purposely cause suffering to other animals when not necessary
Man, I already felt bad about having to trap and dispose of the rabid rats in our alley. I'm so sorry little buddies, but you're incurably ill! 😭
You're just trying to make their … lives(?)... better!
End their suffering. They're pretty much Zombies now
they are millions probably more rats than humans in a city due to size and social life
"It's Okay To Be Smart" sent me ♥.
Same
You should do a video on parrots or macaws or other birds that are social and vocal
I'll add it to the list!
They were able to drive a human by the hair under a chef's hat..a car is nothing to them.
The only reason why the plexiglass was clear is because the scientists didn't want to show us that rats can drive better than most humans 🤣
What? The only reason why it's clear is because they DIDN'T want to show us?
Makes no sense.
Not a rat, but a cousin: My chinese hamster learned he has three types of bedding material, and that one makes a sound that can wake me up if he throws it in the very narrow space between his door and the walls for air to come in. He does this when his water runs out during the night, or if when taking a sand bath the sand gets in his water or food, or even if there's anything in his space that he doesn't like. Oh! and when there's anything wrong and I won't wake up he burrows the hard pellets of bedding under his wheel so when he runs on it it makes a noise that wakes me up so I can fix it for him. He stays mad at me for days when I change anything in his enclosure and will make a gigantic mess in the acrylic door and my desk by puffing out the sand from the sand bath. He also knows I won't refill his bowl of seeds and food unless he eats the feed pellets he doesn't like, so he'll burrow under his house the pellets and I only found it out when I saw him doing it (no he wasn't stashing food, he stashes his favorite treats inside his little house).
He has got you trained lol.
@@timefortea1931 he really does 😅🤣
@@timefortea1931 I trained my guinea pigs to ring a bell when they want more food. It turned out they actually trained me to bring them food when they ring the bell.
@@Mysikrysa How clever of them LOL.
Love your content PBS Terra, I hope to see you get many millions of subscribers in the near future!
Not a surprise for anyone who has had a pet rat. They're intelligent, and can surprise you. I wonder if one could learn to get on the 'net with a phone? The Ratmobile needs a sound system...
The evidence that they're metacognizant is outstanding. Like, that's human child level intelligence right therr
Got here from It's Okay To Be Smart's "Speed of Thought" episode! Hey ya! 👋😅
I love animals and have always thought -- ever since I was a young child growing up with our family dog (who was born just before I was, and was therefore my dear 'sister' in our family, as far as I was concerned! She lived to the grand old age of 17, but we remember her very fondly! 🥺💭🐶💕🥰) -- that non-human animal minds are much closer to human minds than most people acknowledge. For instance, our dog was especially smart and very very loving and affectionate. Although she herself couldn't talk with words, and couldn't process language nearly as well as we could, she *could* understand some words and certainly could understand quite a bit of body language and the expression of many emotions.
Thus, in my experience, our human minds -- and human intelligence as a special subset of human minds -- are not 'different in kind' to non-human animal minds, but rather 'different in degree'. Surely, especially in terms of intelligence, we are by far and away the most intelligent species on our shared home planet, but again, it's just a difference in degree, not kind.
We are not the fastest animals, but we are 'fast' to a certain degree. We're not the strongest, in fact individually we are quite weak, but again only 'weak' or 'strong' in degree, not in kind. Etc. You get the distinction I'm trying to make: Humans are extremely intelligent, but all animals with brains (even some without distinct brains, such as jellyfish) have *some* *_degree_* of intelligence, however 'intelligence' might be operationally defined. Even if, as in the case of say jellyfish, that degree is very small in comparison to our own, it's still a non-zero degree on the 'scale' of degrees of 'intelligence'.
Thus, I've long, long been interested in non-human animal intelligence, and I'm delighted to find a TH-cam channel with some focus on the subject, especially if it presents actual science in the accessible but not-dumbed-down way that I've found and appreciated with other PBS YT channels such as PBS Spacetime and PBS Eons.
Looking forward to the growth and success of this channel, and to the hopefully many wonderful episodes (especially related to animal intelligence, but I love any and all science, so it's all good in my book) in the future! Cheers and best wishes!
It really is okay to be smart! This is awesome!
I've had a number of pet rats. They're smart, funny and very affectionate. Easy to train.
But I didn't know they liked being tickled!😄
Will tickle the next one.
Please don't get "a rat" as a pet. As mentioned in the video, they are social. Please, get a group of rats if you want to have rats as pets, NOT a single rat. Your rats will be much happier.
Two or three as minimum?
@@thycauldron yes absolutely
@@ratman6417Hi there. Is it two or three you should have as a minimum?
@@thycauldron actually 4 or 5 as minimum for a good group. 3 for something that just barely counts. In nature, they live in quite large groups. So, if you want them to be able to express their complete repertoire of behavior, you need to give them more than just 1-2 other rats to interact with. Best way to house them is to convert a big wardrobe into a cage by replacing the doors with wire mesh doors. Once you're going to convert a big wardrobe, it's usually spacious enough for 5 rats anyway, so don't just go for 2-3.
Furniture conversions also look much nicer in your room than those (usually far too small and much more expensive) commercially sold cages. I'm a hamster person myself and the one hamster I currently have has about 6 sq ft in a nice DIY vivarium made from a couple of TV units (those storage things that go under a TV) along one wall of our living room. She loves it! My goals in pet keeping are more along the lines of typical exotic pet owners than what the typical "I just want a fluffy animal" pet owner does. So, more research into what they do in nature and trying to replicate that as best as possible at home. So, lots of space for animals that move a lot, more than 3 inches to dig for digging animals, I even have red dusk simulation LED lights because hamsters are actually crepuscular, not 100% nocturnal. Which also means I get to see my hamster before I turn off all lights completely because she comes out during the "fake dusk". :)
@@TheFeldhamster that's awesome, thank you! I had mice once and we build a three storey home in an IKEA ivar cupboard thingy where they had plenty of room for hiding, running and digging. Though as far as I remember it was tricky to get it to a stage where the urine didn't ruin the wood (we used plastic glass as layers but it leaked through every tiny gap). What you say completely makes sense, though I get the feeling I don't have enough space to provide such a large / appropriate home somewhere in mine - which is rather small itself :(
So, no pets for us.
Gives new meaning to the term, Rat Mobile! 😅
First time here thanks to "It's Okay To Be Smart" 😃 ... love it. Subscribed
Maybe you could make a video examining kangaroo intelligence.
Your channel is always very interesting.
And funny at times, with these pouting Rats! 🐀 🤣 👍💗
watching with my five domestic rats.
0:04 "It can go whichever direction it wants"
Video: rat smashes car into wall...
Ratthew: "I meant to do that, I meant to!"
@@TraceDominguez bruh, I know you! 😃👍
This is why I love Tom & Jerry
Rats are so smart and sweet.
More impressive, they only live 2-3 years to learn all they know and pass some down.
Its Okay to Be Smart sent me. Here to channel my inner rat!
Rat man drives his RAT-MOBILE!
I'm watching my pet rats play while watching this and thinking how they'd fair in a ratmobile.
Wow! That rat learned how to drive faster than me!
thats like some double daily jeopardy level thinking lol. how much will you wager. "not alot says the rat, ill take my small treat" 🤣
Finally some GOOD NEWS
New circus attraction: mouse clown car
Rats are smarter than some people in power.
We maybe win the body/brain ratio but the for the driving skill and the tes... Well forget it 🤣
Is it just me or does anybody else realize that the scientist's hair is gorgeous?!
I adore rats!! Imo, pet rats are just as loving as dogs. 🐀💖
I think Ravens would make a super interesting video as well!
i'm not surprised a rat can drive a car- there have been documented cases where a mouse drove a motorcycle
I have had rats and they do sound like they are laughing when you tickle them.
And yet rats are used in countless medical experiments everyday. As someone who kept rats for years I could tell you all about how intelligent, empathetic and strong willed they are, as any rat owner could. I don't know how anyone could experiment on them.
They're an excellent study species for a lot of reasons, but yes it can be difficult to balance the two things 😕
Breaks my heart that rats are abused in this way. I adore rats. I had 2 girls who have since died. I will always miss them. Rats are my fave animals. They are just so special.
Rats and mice aren´t even considered animals according to american laws, so the anti-abuse laws don´t protect them. :(
@@TraceDominguez There is no excuse for animal testing cruelty. People are also excellent study material, actually much better than any other animal species, and the Na*is learnt a lot about how human body works when they experimented on the prisoners in con. camps. It doesn´t mean it was a right thing to do and we should repeat the same mistakes.
@@Mysikrysa So heart breaking.
I was told to tell you that It's Okay To Be Smart sent me here.
I would like an IQ episode on ferrets! i always questioning if there's a difference of IQ between males and females. I can train my male really easily, he learn a trick in litteraly 10 minutes and he remember everything. my female just learned what's a treat and she's almost 2 years old! (i'm trying everyday). xD
It could be male and female but it could also simply be that your male rat happens to be smart for a ferret or your female is stupid compared to most other females. It would take extensive testing to show any real results. In dogs tho much research has been done and it clearly shows that not only do some breeds have far more IQ than others but that even within the breed the IQ can vary a great deal.
Well this is going to be a new idea for the pet toy industry.
Joe from its okay to be smart sent me!
It's Okay To Be Smart sent me here. Now I'm subbed! :D
May I suggest using less 'goofy' type of background music, especially when trying to communicate the *reality* of animal intelligence? Many many people dismiss non-human animal intelligence, and the subconscious association with 'bumbling around' type of music with animal behaviours, while popular, at best does not help with that misperception, and at worst probably contributes to it. I'd prefer to hear something more 'respectful' or even 'awe-inspiring' or 'wondrous' -- something that makes me more likely to say, "Wow, that's so cool!" rather than, "Aww, that's so cute/funny/silly!" Just a suggestion. 😊
This is so cool!
Our inner rat ??? Wait a minute 😂
Don't tell Uber!
We need more stimulus. I'm a neglected rat and I'm too tired to much
I currently have three pet rats name
1.Sammy the bull
2.6ix9ine
3.45
I had 100 pet rats and I started with one LOL they can learn sign language and you can't trick them twice with the same thing
What about the crazy rat city experiment? How can you not mention that in a video about rats intelligence?!
That was mice
Dr. Beverly Hofstadter is real :o
For all the sacrifices rats have made for us, the least we could do is discover how to eradicate mycoplasmosis for them.
Rats can express themselves verbally. Anyone who ignores their sounds is not a scientist.
Long-term learning sounds interesting to me… Maybe different approaches, in addition to behaviorism, depending on the animals’ individual/group features will be helpful for answering the question?🤔🤔
Thank you for sharing this interesting video! 🤗👍
🔆AniFam〽️
Rats can express themselves verbally by ultravoices but human ear can't hear so hihg voices, nor the infravoices used in elephants' communication.
Perhaps there is a metric that is missing. You discuss that rats are social, at least empathetic and with memory for past favors, etc. and then also brain to body size as an indicator of individual potential intelligence, but what about the collective intelligence of a group of a species working together. Perhaps a species doesnt need a larger brain to body size, if it works together collectively. So there should be a metric for how well animals solve problems working together as a team. We see numerous examples of this when animals hunt, or for example ants form bridges, etc. Perhaps humans are no longer number one, when it comes to working together to achieve a goal compared to other species that are less competitive and more willing to make sacrifices for the group, etc. There should be some testing for groups of a species solving a problem....
It's Okay to be Smart sent me
It's OK to be Smart sent me here!
Doing experiments on rats makes us to know about rats...not humans...
Can't believe she still doesn't have a mic...
We got her one! But she lives in Egypt (to be closer to the big cats she researches) so getting things to her can be tough.
_It's Okay to Be Smart_ sent me :)
It's okay to be smart sent me.
Rat car? I wonder if I can make a cat car? I saw one once.
Here from IOTBS :)
I trust him to drive mine
Why did trace leave seeker?
Anyone else internally hearing Michael Jackson singing "Ben"?
When the humans has destroyed the earth and died because of the global warming, the smart rats will be survived.
well I have my drivers license test tomorrow so I hope this is true
it's okay to be smart sent me
@1:34: so you really can't distinguish at all between a rat neuron and a human neuron?
WOW
Well there's no doubt to a rats intelligence now, I suppose you could say their intelligence has now been officially RATified.
their RATing is high! They SQUEAKED above my expectations
Would you please publish the rubrics of intelligence somewhere? Of course with a disclaimer saying that it is quite subjective in nature
I second this request. It is best to be open and transparent (and honest and humble!) especially when it comes to science. It's not an 'urgent' request, IMHO, but an 'important' one that hopefully could be addressed clearly at some point in the future.
Its okay to be smart sent me
It's OK To Be Smart sent me
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:01 🧠 *Introduction to Neurons and Thought Process*
- Introduction to neurons and their role in transmitting signals.
- Explanation of how neurons work and the concept of electricity in the brain.
- Overview of the microscopic activity inside nerve cells.
01:25 🐎 *Historical Context: Communication Speed and Neuronal Signaling*
- Comparison between historical communication challenges and cellular communication.
- Introduction to William Henry Harrison's inauguration and communication limitations.
- Explanation of how neurons solve the problem of long-distance communication in the body.
03:42 ⚡ *Discovery of Neuronal Electricity: Galvani and Volta's Experiments*
- Overview of Luigi Galvani's experiments with frog legs and electricity.
- Introduction of Alessandro Volta and his invention of the voltaic pile.
- Explanation of the concept of "animal electricity" and the discovery of living electricity in organisms.
06:31 🔋 *Understanding Battery Functionality: Volta's Contribution*
- Explanation of Volta's experiments and the invention of the first battery.
- Demonstration of building a voltaic pile with household items.
- Explanation of how batteries work based on the separation of charges and the flow of electrons.
08:55 🐜 *Experimentation with Neuronal Stimulation: Cockroach Leg and Music*
- Demonstration of stimulating a cockroach leg with homemade battery voltage.
- Experimentation with musical stimulation of the cockroach leg.
- Replication of early neuroscience experiments using simple materials.
10:45 🔊 *Detection of Neuronal Activity: Action Potential and Neurotransmission*
- Introduction to detecting neuronal signals without external electricity.
- Explanation of action potential and its role in transmitting electrical signals.
- Overview of neuron structure and the process of neurotransmission.
12:10 🧪 *Neuron Anatomy and Functionality*
- Description of neuron anatomy, including dendrites, axons, and synapses.
- Comparison of neuron sizes across different animals.
- Introduction to the action potential and its significance in neuroscience.
13:32 ⚡ *Action Potential Mechanism: Separation of Charges and Ionic Movements*
- Explanation of the action potential mechanism based on the movement of ions.
- Introduction to the concept of membrane potential and its role in neuronal activity.
- Description of the sodium-potassium pump and its contribution to maintaining neuronal equilibrium.
16:49 🏃♂️ *Speed of Neuronal Signaling*
- Comparison of neuronal signal speeds to everyday objects like cars and airplanes.
- Explanation of the variation in signal speeds among different types of nerve fibers.
- Overview of the factors influencing the speed of thought in the nervous system.
18:38 🧬 *Neurons: Remarkable Cells of the Body*
- Summary of neurons' remarkable properties and functionalities.
- Reflection on the significance of neurons in understanding the universe.
- Encouragement for curiosity and further exploration of science content.
Made with HARPA AI
Ok
do insect. spiders/ arachnid
🐀 🐀 🐀🤓
Do they sell those cars for pet rats?
evolutionary we are closer to rats than dogs or cats.
You're training them to do a bunch of stuff that humans do.. don't you realize they have FAR GREATER challenges just living their lives out in NATURE??
I'm sorry, but the terrible Kindergarten music is really distracting! These videos are otherwise so great. Please stop putting that on there. 😟
If this research can help women become better drivers I'm all for it. What I don't understand is why scientists need to do research to find out animals are smart. I think they should do research and get grants to find out why they need to do research and get grants to find that animals are smart. Is there a problem with their own cognitive abilities? Can something be done to improve their own intelligence?
Doing an episode on rats, and then only lab rats, is kind of lame. These aren't like chimps raised in captivity or something, these are an entirely different genetic population than wild rats, bred for over a century to be good study subjects.
The domesticated animals are always dumber than their wild ancestors, so these lab rats driving cars are nothing compared to the wild rats who live in much more stimulating environment than a sterile lab.
if you biologically engineered them to live 30 years theyd take over the world 🤣 see the other thing to think about is rats only live like 2 years. so they are this intelligent that quickly. like by 6 months they are doing full grown dog stuff lol.