30 years ago when I was in grad school, I helped an animal rescue organization with their adoptions. The rule-of-thumb for the lifespan of cats that we used was: • 5 years for feral cats • 10 years for indoor-outdoor cats • 15-20 years for indoor cats Keep your cats indoors. They don't need to be outside hunting our wildlife. And they live longer. And playing with your indoor cat is fun. 😻
@@KPassionate One detail I omitted: I went to grad-school in Boulder, CO. You had pumas, coyotes, owls, and eagles that could snatch your pet cat if you let it outdoors. And then, there's cars. So it was truly far, far, _far safer_ for cats to be indoors there.
@@KPassionate 😁 Well, my doctorate is in physics, so different field. And, the only contact/connection to the football team was that the physics building's 11-story tower was across the road from and had a good view into the stadium. Which was _annoying,_ since the 11th floor physics study-lounge would get hijacked regularly on game days. 😠
This is some seriously interesting news. I'll hold off on calling it "good/great" until the study is published. Always good to "know" a wicked smaht Marine Biologist. Haha.
So sad 😭 as far as the disease..in humans I find that it's worse for us ...the ones who watch our loved ones fade away..they really don't know too much..and most of them live in the past so...I think that's a good thing that they relive their younger years everyday..I think it helps a lot.near the end.. they do not know anything..it's so much more painful for us ❤️❤️❤️
There was a study looking at nuns and Alzheimer's. One group did crossword puzzles and one group didn't. When the nuns died they checked their brains for the signs of Alzheimer's. The group doing crosswords had the plaques and tangles but did not have outward signs of Alzheimer's. The group who didn't do the puzzles had the brain changes and the outward signs.
Wow, I'd like to know more about that Alzheimer's cure. I love, and kinda teary-eyed, that Jojo's paw is your brand logo-it speaks a lot on how that chonky, lovely meepster is the perfect ambassador for his marine kind in this generation and beyond 🥺❤️
Alzheimer's is a particularly cruel disease. 100 years ago, you were lucky to see 60. Now, dying at or before 60 is considered pretty uncommon. Life expectancy is now around 80 and since Alzheimer's can appear as early as 50, we're now seeing people living almost *half their lives* with this disease. A cure would be the greatest scientific achievement since smallpox eradication.
Fun Fact: A longitudinal study found a correlation between monolingualism and dementia. Apparently, being able to speak two or more languages prevents or delays dementia. And IIRC, the more languages one can speak, the stronger the effect. [But I could have that wrong.] And it makes sense. One of the most fundamental aspects of the human species is Language. No, not "communication," *_Language._* Yes, other species communicate, sometimes with complex signals. Yes, other species have reasoning abilities. But only humans combine these into Language, a form of communication so complex, it can describe descriptions of itself. Again: only humans can talk about talking. And this ability is so fundamental to the functioning of the human brain that there is a Linguistic hypothesis that humans are _born with an innate ability to acquire Language._ Not a specific Language, but any Language that new brain is hearing. I don't know how well-proven that hypothesis is, though. Wikipedia probably has better, more up-to-date info. But my point: with Language being so fundamental to the functioning of the human brain, it makes sense that the ability to speak more than one helps keep the brain's most basic underlying circuitry sharp.
@@KPassionate I remember hearing a group of journalists on Radio New Zealand getting bent out of shape over a study that found that humans are the only creatures that whisper. They were all indignantly exclaiming, "Rubbish! My dog/horse/cow/etc. has barked/neighed/mooed quietly on many occasions!" They were, of course, redefining, "whisper," to mean, "make sounds quietly." Whereas human-whispering is making sounds _without using the vocal chords._ The point being: humans can disengage their vocal chords when communicating. Other animals do not have that degree of control over their vocal chords. Linguistically, consonants come in pairs: voiced and unvoiced. Vowels are voiced by definition. So we can "speak" with all unvoiced consonants, which keeps the vocal chords shut off. But, we can _also_ produce "vowel-like-consonants" by putting our mouth in the shape of an "ah" or an "ee", or an "oh" and just exhaling. And our brains interpret that sound as the corresponding vowel. Other animals can't do that. A cow can't move its mouth in a "moo" and just exhale, without engaging its vocal chords. You and I, however, can make a "moo" that just involves exhaling. Aaaanyway, the point is: people will hear what they want to hear, redefine words to mean what makes the sentence/idea fit with their beliefs, then run with it.
@@KPassionate Oh, also: the sentence, "A study has proven that animals …" is actually sloppy, inaccurate, and not what's really going on. "A recent study has shown that dogs feel guilt," isn't what the study showed - the study showed that _humans are not imagining that_ dogs feel guilt. That's what we _should_ be saying about animal behavior studies: "This study shows that it's _not us humans_ imagining it/projecting/anthropomorphizing-the-animals …" I wish journalists, especially science-journalists, would get a clue and start saying this.
I wonder if the ones that are domestic have less signs of memory loss due to training and challenging there minds. which could possibly be strengthening the brain
This is very interesting, though we understand so little about all the decisions that lead a pod to mass strand, and they are all so fast in the water that it will be extremely difficult to prove "sick leader syndrome" outside the correlation vs. causation problem because it's basically impossible to prove causation unless it can be symptomatically closely observed in a known individual, and you aren't going to be able to prove that in a wild population. One thing I heard about a few years ago that made me narrow my eyes, call "Sus!", and start researching led me to the horror that the genes responsible for creating the amyloid protein that causes Alzheimer's. Most people have two of each chromosome, but if you have THREE copies of Chromosome 21, your chances of developing Alzheimer's are significantly higher. "Trisomy 21" is, of course, also known as "Down's Syndrome." So it turns out NOT sus to be doing Alzheimer's research with that specific population, and I hope we can learn more to really crack this because it's an excruciatingly slow and traumatic (and often dangerous to others) way to go. www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/down-syndrome-alzheimers-risk.html#:~:text=Chromosome%2021%20plays%20a%20key,the%20brain%20associated%20with%20Alzheimer's.
30 years ago when I was in grad school, I helped an animal rescue organization with their adoptions. The rule-of-thumb for the lifespan of cats that we used was:
• 5 years for feral cats
• 10 years for indoor-outdoor cats
• 15-20 years for indoor cats
Keep your cats indoors. They don't need to be outside hunting our wildlife. And they live longer. And playing with your indoor cat is fun. 😻
Agreed! I get very angry at people who have outdoor cats honestly
@@KPassionate One detail I omitted: I went to grad-school in Boulder, CO. You had pumas, coyotes, owls, and eagles that could snatch your pet cat if you let it outdoors. And then, there's cars.
So it was truly far, far, _far safer_ for cats to be indoors there.
@@John_Weiss rival! I am a CSU alumni lol
@@KPassionate 😁 Well, my doctorate is in physics, so different field. And, the only contact/connection to the football team was that the physics building's 11-story tower was across the road from and had a good view into the stadium. Which was _annoying,_ since the 11th floor physics study-lounge would get hijacked regularly on game days. 😠
Absolutely..my boy lived to 21...no pain..no illness..just senile. ❤️
Thanks KP! Alzheimers is what took my husband's life 18 years ago. Mizwaffles dad
It is such an awful disease 😔
Really interesting!
I think so too!
Very interesting research! Thanks again.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is some seriously interesting news. I'll hold off on calling it "good/great" until the study is published. Always good to "know" a wicked smaht Marine Biologist. Haha.
Hahaha thanks for watching! It is interesting research and I can’t wait to learn more!
So sad 😭 as far as the disease..in humans I find that it's worse for us ...the ones who watch our loved ones fade away..they really don't know too much..and most of them live in the past so...I think that's a good thing that they relive their younger years everyday..I think it helps a lot.near the end.. they do not know anything..it's so much more painful for us ❤️❤️❤️
There was a study looking at nuns and Alzheimer's. One group did crossword puzzles and one group didn't. When the nuns died they checked their brains for the signs of Alzheimer's. The group doing crosswords had the plaques and tangles but did not have outward signs of Alzheimer's. The group who didn't do the puzzles had the brain changes and the outward signs.
I really hope this leads to a cure. It's the most awful disease. It took my grandma.
Mine too. Terrible
Fascinating research!
Wow, I'd like to know more about that Alzheimer's cure. I love, and kinda teary-eyed, that Jojo's paw is your brand logo-it speaks a lot on how that chonky, lovely meepster is the perfect ambassador for his marine kind in this generation and beyond 🥺❤️
God Bless the little bean ❤️❤️
Alzheimer's is a particularly cruel disease. 100 years ago, you were lucky to see 60. Now, dying at or before 60 is considered pretty uncommon. Life expectancy is now around 80 and since Alzheimer's can appear as early as 50, we're now seeing people living almost *half their lives* with this disease. A cure would be the greatest scientific achievement since smallpox eradication.
I agree! I hope it happens soon
Fun Fact: A longitudinal study found a correlation between monolingualism and dementia. Apparently, being able to speak two or more languages prevents or delays dementia. And IIRC, the more languages one can speak, the stronger the effect. [But I could have that wrong.]
And it makes sense. One of the most fundamental aspects of the human species is Language. No, not "communication," *_Language._*
Yes, other species communicate, sometimes with complex signals. Yes, other species have reasoning abilities. But only humans combine these into Language, a form of communication so complex, it can describe descriptions of itself.
Again: only humans can talk about talking. And this ability is so fundamental to the functioning of the human brain that there is a Linguistic hypothesis that humans are _born with an innate ability to acquire Language._ Not a specific Language, but any Language that new brain is hearing. I don't know how well-proven that hypothesis is, though. Wikipedia probably has better, more up-to-date info.
But my point: with Language being so fundamental to the functioning of the human brain, it makes sense that the ability to speak more than one helps keep the brain's most basic underlying circuitry sharp.
You should tell this to the angry dog buttons people on my old video lol
@@KPassionate I remember hearing a group of journalists on Radio New Zealand getting bent out of shape over a study that found that humans are the only creatures that whisper.
They were all indignantly exclaiming, "Rubbish! My dog/horse/cow/etc. has barked/neighed/mooed quietly on many occasions!"
They were, of course, redefining, "whisper," to mean, "make sounds quietly." Whereas human-whispering is making sounds _without using the vocal chords._ The point being: humans can disengage their vocal chords when communicating. Other animals do not have that degree of control over their vocal chords.
Linguistically, consonants come in pairs: voiced and unvoiced. Vowels are voiced by definition. So we can "speak" with all unvoiced consonants, which keeps the vocal chords shut off. But, we can _also_ produce "vowel-like-consonants" by putting our mouth in the shape of an "ah" or an "ee", or an "oh" and just exhaling. And our brains interpret that sound as the corresponding vowel.
Other animals can't do that. A cow can't move its mouth in a "moo" and just exhale, without engaging its vocal chords. You and I, however, can make a "moo" that just involves exhaling.
Aaaanyway, the point is: people will hear what they want to hear, redefine words to mean what makes the sentence/idea fit with their beliefs, then run with it.
@@KPassionate Oh, also: the sentence, "A study has proven that animals …" is actually sloppy, inaccurate, and not what's really going on. "A recent study has shown that dogs feel guilt," isn't what the study showed - the study showed that _humans are not imagining that_ dogs feel guilt. That's what we _should_ be saying about animal behavior studies: "This study shows that it's _not us humans_ imagining it/projecting/anthropomorphizing-the-animals …"
I wish journalists, especially science-journalists, would get a clue and start saying this.
I wonder if the ones that are domestic have less signs of memory loss due to training and challenging there minds. which could possibly be strengthening the brain
Maybe! Hopefully we will know more with more research
This is very interesting, though we understand so little about all the decisions that lead a pod to mass strand, and they are all so fast in the water that it will be extremely difficult to prove "sick leader syndrome" outside the correlation vs. causation problem because it's basically impossible to prove causation unless it can be symptomatically closely observed in a known individual, and you aren't going to be able to prove that in a wild population.
One thing I heard about a few years ago that made me narrow my eyes, call "Sus!", and start researching led me to the horror that the genes responsible for creating the amyloid protein that causes Alzheimer's. Most people have two of each chromosome, but if you have THREE copies of Chromosome 21, your chances of developing Alzheimer's are significantly higher. "Trisomy 21" is, of course, also known as "Down's Syndrome." So it turns out NOT sus to be doing Alzheimer's research with that specific population, and I hope we can learn more to really crack this because it's an excruciatingly slow and traumatic (and often dangerous to others) way to go.
www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/down-syndrome-alzheimers-risk.html#:~:text=Chromosome%2021%20plays%20a%20key,the%20brain%20associated%20with%20Alzheimer's.