1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:26,236 Speaker 1: Bushkin. What's her name? 2 00:00:27,796 --> 00:00:29,436 Speaker 2: Cooly? Sorry there you got some fun names. 3 00:00:29,636 --> 00:00:30,396 Speaker 3: K U L. 4 00:00:32,036 --> 00:00:36,436 Speaker 1: Cooley. It's a Belgian melanoa sleek, lean, dappled gray and black, 5 00:00:36,836 --> 00:00:39,756 Speaker 1: panting happily on a patch of grass way up in 6 00:00:39,796 --> 00:00:44,556 Speaker 1: the hills of northeastern Alabama. This dog is probably from hungry, hungry, hungry, 7 00:00:44,636 --> 00:00:45,276 Speaker 1: and she's. 8 00:00:45,076 --> 00:00:50,436 Speaker 2: Held ill exactly have her information? 9 00:00:50,676 --> 00:00:51,916 Speaker 4: Twenty four months or below? 10 00:00:52,156 --> 00:00:54,676 Speaker 2: Twenty four months or below. We have all that paperwork 11 00:00:54,756 --> 00:00:56,636 Speaker 2: at the office, but right her own. 12 00:00:56,796 --> 00:01:00,476 Speaker 1: That is the biggest tongue I've ever seen. We're all 13 00:01:00,476 --> 00:01:03,476 Speaker 1: standing in front of a cluster of concrete buildings spread 14 00:01:03,516 --> 00:01:07,236 Speaker 1: over a large, rolling, wooded campus an hour or so 15 00:01:07,316 --> 00:01:11,476 Speaker 1: from Birmingham, the headcore of an organization called three sixty 16 00:01:11,556 --> 00:01:14,876 Speaker 1: Canine Group. The whole operation looks like a scaled down 17 00:01:15,076 --> 00:01:18,556 Speaker 1: army base, only instead of soldiers marching to and fro, 18 00:01:19,236 --> 00:01:24,596 Speaker 1: there are dogs, dozens and dozens of them, Poppies stumbling playfully, 19 00:01:24,836 --> 00:01:29,236 Speaker 1: chocolate labs chasing things, German shepherds looking for a job 20 00:01:29,276 --> 00:01:36,516 Speaker 1: to do and cooling. One of the operation's newest recruits, 21 00:01:36,676 --> 00:01:39,916 Speaker 1: a teenager in dog years, being put through her paces 22 00:01:40,556 --> 00:01:43,236 Speaker 1: a robber toy for which she has acquired. A certain 23 00:01:43,316 --> 00:01:47,276 Speaker 1: affection was taken from her and her job is to 24 00:01:47,316 --> 00:01:47,716 Speaker 1: find it. 25 00:01:48,236 --> 00:01:50,276 Speaker 2: You can see, like, where is she slaughtered? Right here, 26 00:01:50,596 --> 00:01:53,556 Speaker 2: so she called the over here. Turned. Once she turned, 27 00:01:53,676 --> 00:01:54,756 Speaker 2: she can see. 28 00:01:54,596 --> 00:01:55,636 Speaker 5: That wokake Ovisually. 29 00:01:56,476 --> 00:01:59,636 Speaker 1: She has never done an exercise like this before, and 30 00:01:59,716 --> 00:02:01,996 Speaker 1: the assignment has filled her with enthusiasm. 31 00:02:03,516 --> 00:02:04,076 Speaker 2: Us. 32 00:02:09,596 --> 00:02:14,396 Speaker 1: Yes, Coolie is standing in front of one of the cabinets. 33 00:02:14,676 --> 00:02:20,756 Speaker 1: Tail waggings were but she never toldly was in there. 34 00:02:21,556 --> 00:02:24,716 Speaker 1: Cooley's a good girl, all right. She follows her nose 35 00:02:25,396 --> 00:02:30,836 Speaker 1: and we have a lot to learn from her. My 36 00:02:30,956 --> 00:02:34,356 Speaker 1: name is Malcolm Gladwell. You're listening to the final episode 37 00:02:34,476 --> 00:02:38,756 Speaker 1: of season six of Revisions History, my podcast about things 38 00:02:38,876 --> 00:02:43,236 Speaker 1: overlooked and misunderstood. This has been a season devoted to 39 00:02:43,356 --> 00:02:50,476 Speaker 1: fixing things, college rankings, laundry, the Little Mermaid. We have 40 00:02:50,516 --> 00:02:54,316 Speaker 1: looked at many burning issues and said we can do better. 41 00:02:54,956 --> 00:02:57,756 Speaker 1: But there are some problems that we cannot fix on 42 00:02:57,836 --> 00:03:02,116 Speaker 1: our own. Some problems are so big they can only 43 00:03:02,196 --> 00:03:05,236 Speaker 1: be solved with the help of another species. 44 00:03:13,516 --> 00:03:15,396 Speaker 2: Okay, so this is our dark room test. 45 00:03:18,516 --> 00:03:22,156 Speaker 1: Cooley's undergoing yet another test with the same goal as before, 46 00:03:23,196 --> 00:03:26,636 Speaker 1: find the hidden toy, only now the lights are off 47 00:03:27,116 --> 00:03:30,036 Speaker 1: and the toy is not in the first room COOLi enters, 48 00:03:30,436 --> 00:03:33,236 Speaker 1: but in a second, smaller room off to the side. 49 00:03:33,956 --> 00:03:36,236 Speaker 2: This also tells us if it takes her a little 50 00:03:36,276 --> 00:03:39,156 Speaker 2: while to try to find it, how much hunt draft 51 00:03:39,196 --> 00:03:43,036 Speaker 2: she actually has, so it's not just immediate to make sure, 52 00:03:43,236 --> 00:03:45,796 Speaker 2: even after she gets tired, even after she's hot, but 53 00:03:45,916 --> 00:03:47,756 Speaker 2: she still wants that toy enough to be. 54 00:03:47,756 --> 00:03:48,556 Speaker 3: Looking for it. 55 00:03:49,076 --> 00:03:52,996 Speaker 1: Cooley bounds in sniff's the first room, everything all four walls. 56 00:03:53,156 --> 00:03:55,836 Speaker 1: Then she zeros in on the closet. We can't see her, 57 00:03:56,116 --> 00:03:59,916 Speaker 1: only hear her. Her trainers, Sean and Ashley are grading 58 00:03:59,956 --> 00:04:03,516 Speaker 1: every step of her performance on a long, detailed checklist. 59 00:04:06,436 --> 00:04:09,516 Speaker 1: You can hear the difference in a yes when she 60 00:04:09,516 --> 00:04:11,036 Speaker 1: got it out him and she's gotten out for. 61 00:04:13,716 --> 00:04:14,036 Speaker 5: Cans. 62 00:04:15,676 --> 00:04:18,876 Speaker 1: Cooley walked across a mattress, didn't stop, jumped on one 63 00:04:18,956 --> 00:04:21,316 Speaker 1: end of a makeshift teter totter, didn't phaze her. 64 00:04:22,116 --> 00:04:24,156 Speaker 2: These are the dogs that people get as pets, and 65 00:04:24,236 --> 00:04:27,116 Speaker 2: they eat their couch and they're the worst, terrible pets 66 00:04:27,276 --> 00:04:28,876 Speaker 2: that make the really really good dogs. 67 00:04:28,916 --> 00:04:31,516 Speaker 6: For the most part, you. 68 00:04:31,516 --> 00:04:32,276 Speaker 2: Love all of that. 69 00:04:33,076 --> 00:04:42,036 Speaker 1: She runs down a hallway, sniff sniff a large canvas 70 00:04:42,076 --> 00:04:45,636 Speaker 1: bag is suspended from the ceiling, ready to drop and 71 00:04:45,676 --> 00:04:49,436 Speaker 1: block her way, and pulled up to the ceiling, big 72 00:04:49,476 --> 00:04:49,996 Speaker 1: heavy bag. 73 00:04:50,676 --> 00:04:51,276 Speaker 5: Three guns. 74 00:04:51,796 --> 00:05:02,356 Speaker 1: Here she comes. We all jumped when the bag dropped 75 00:05:02,356 --> 00:05:07,236 Speaker 1: from the ceiling. Cooley didn't. She paused, looked at the bag, 76 00:05:07,356 --> 00:05:16,876 Speaker 1: sniffed it, and carried on. Dogs noses are something like 77 00:05:16,996 --> 00:05:20,636 Speaker 1: one hundred thousand times more sensitive than ours. A puppy 78 00:05:20,916 --> 00:05:23,636 Speaker 1: fresh off the boat can find a hidden toy in 79 00:05:23,676 --> 00:05:28,036 Speaker 1: a darkened room. Dogs can perform all manner of olfactory 80 00:05:28,076 --> 00:05:32,796 Speaker 1: tasks using judgment, drive, and discipline. It's their superpower. That's 81 00:05:32,796 --> 00:05:35,516 Speaker 1: why they are dogs at the airport sniffing luggage, or 82 00:05:35,516 --> 00:05:37,956 Speaker 1: why it's always a dog who finds the hiker lost 83 00:05:37,996 --> 00:05:41,116 Speaker 1: in the woods. Spend a little time at three point 84 00:05:41,076 --> 00:05:44,396 Speaker 1: sixty k nine in the hills of Alabama, and every 85 00:05:44,396 --> 00:05:48,356 Speaker 1: one of your preconceptions about the genius of dogs will 86 00:05:48,396 --> 00:05:49,116 Speaker 1: be confirmed. 87 00:05:53,396 --> 00:05:57,116 Speaker 3: We had a dog, a black lab that we retired, 88 00:05:57,476 --> 00:05:59,596 Speaker 3: and we allowed the dog. You know, we had a 89 00:05:59,636 --> 00:06:03,716 Speaker 3: ceremony and we bought we ceremony and we hired you know, 90 00:06:03,716 --> 00:06:06,556 Speaker 3: there's a local bakery that makes dog friendly cakes, so 91 00:06:06,596 --> 00:06:07,796 Speaker 3: we had a cake for the dog. 92 00:06:08,316 --> 00:06:11,436 Speaker 1: We were sitting in the three sixty Knine conference room 93 00:06:11,476 --> 00:06:14,676 Speaker 1: listening to Jerry Johnson and John Pierce, two of the 94 00:06:14,716 --> 00:06:19,956 Speaker 1: company's senior executives, two hardcore dog guys, talking about the 95 00:06:19,996 --> 00:06:20,996 Speaker 1: best they ever saw. 96 00:06:21,396 --> 00:06:23,236 Speaker 3: And we had the dog in the room and run 97 00:06:23,276 --> 00:06:25,796 Speaker 3: around and just you know, an off leash and sniffing 98 00:06:25,796 --> 00:06:28,956 Speaker 3: everybody's super friendly dog. The lady comes in to deliver 99 00:06:29,036 --> 00:06:31,716 Speaker 3: the cake and she's got on her boyfriend or husband 100 00:06:31,716 --> 00:06:33,636 Speaker 3: with her and he's standing there hole in the cake 101 00:06:33,676 --> 00:06:37,356 Speaker 3: and the dog key's running up behind the guy and 102 00:06:37,396 --> 00:06:40,556 Speaker 3: going behind him and basically like sniffing his rear in 103 00:06:40,596 --> 00:06:43,996 Speaker 3: and sniffing the back of his uh, you know, his shirt, 104 00:06:44,116 --> 00:06:46,676 Speaker 3: and won't leave him alone. And I remember who asked him, 105 00:06:46,716 --> 00:06:49,436 Speaker 3: but finally someone said, all right, yeah, John said, are 106 00:06:49,476 --> 00:06:52,676 Speaker 3: you carrying a weapon? And he was like, no, I 107 00:06:53,476 --> 00:06:55,436 Speaker 3: was carrying a weapon. I took it off and left 108 00:06:55,476 --> 00:06:57,156 Speaker 3: it in the car, just prayer to walking in here. 109 00:06:57,356 --> 00:07:00,236 Speaker 3: And the guy had, you know, three minutes before taking 110 00:07:00,276 --> 00:07:02,796 Speaker 3: his gun off and left it in his car, and 111 00:07:02,836 --> 00:07:04,276 Speaker 3: the dog still found it. And you know, we were 112 00:07:04,596 --> 00:07:05,196 Speaker 3: having a party. 113 00:07:05,276 --> 00:07:06,276 Speaker 4: What was that dog's name? 114 00:07:06,596 --> 00:07:11,236 Speaker 1: That was Cole Cole coolly add them to the long 115 00:07:11,276 --> 00:07:14,676 Speaker 1: list of Doggie All Stars. But you already knew dogs 116 00:07:14,716 --> 00:07:18,556 Speaker 1: could do this. Right now, it's time to go further. 117 00:07:23,476 --> 00:07:27,156 Speaker 1: A few years ago, a labrador named Florin flew in 118 00:07:27,236 --> 00:07:31,396 Speaker 1: from London to Boston at the invitation of a research 119 00:07:31,476 --> 00:07:36,556 Speaker 1: scientist at MIT named Andreas Mershen, coming in on a 120 00:07:36,596 --> 00:07:40,796 Speaker 1: winter's morning for a special one dog exhibition. 121 00:07:42,436 --> 00:07:45,716 Speaker 6: Flooring. The famous dog flew first class to MIT, so 122 00:07:45,756 --> 00:07:47,316 Speaker 6: I didn't have time to go through all the hooks, 123 00:07:47,356 --> 00:07:49,836 Speaker 6: so we had to rent the hotel room, the hotel 124 00:07:49,996 --> 00:07:53,116 Speaker 6: ballroom right across the street at the Maria. 125 00:07:53,796 --> 00:07:57,156 Speaker 1: Mershin is a kind of scientific jack of all trades. 126 00:07:57,756 --> 00:08:01,236 Speaker 1: He's technically a physicist, but as he likes to say, 127 00:08:01,476 --> 00:08:07,436 Speaker 1: he operates in blissful ignorance of disciplinary boundaries. He's interested 128 00:08:07,516 --> 00:08:12,836 Speaker 1: in solar panels, quantum effects in molecular biology, not to 129 00:08:12,876 --> 00:08:18,036 Speaker 1: mention something that I cannot begin to understand called cytoskeletal 130 00:08:18,276 --> 00:08:23,916 Speaker 1: memory and coding. Mershan got interested in prostate cancer, one 131 00:08:23,916 --> 00:08:26,756 Speaker 1: of the most common of all cancers. Mershan heard about 132 00:08:26,796 --> 00:08:29,836 Speaker 1: the work being done by a British researcher named Claire Guest, 133 00:08:30,436 --> 00:08:34,236 Speaker 1: who had been training dogs to detect diseases the same 134 00:08:34,236 --> 00:08:37,796 Speaker 1: way we've been training dogs for years to detect explosives, 135 00:08:38,436 --> 00:08:41,236 Speaker 1: and Merchan and Guest ended up working together, which is 136 00:08:41,276 --> 00:08:44,756 Speaker 1: what led to Florin guests four year old labrador flying 137 00:08:44,796 --> 00:08:48,996 Speaker 1: into Boston one cold winter's morning to perform a special 138 00:08:49,076 --> 00:08:54,636 Speaker 1: sniffing demonstration for the senior leadership of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. 139 00:08:55,196 --> 00:08:56,516 Speaker 4: So wait, described a scene. 140 00:08:56,516 --> 00:08:57,796 Speaker 1: This is this is hilarious. 141 00:08:58,036 --> 00:09:00,596 Speaker 4: You in the ballroom of the Marrion. Yes, how many people? 142 00:09:00,796 --> 00:09:03,196 Speaker 6: Oh maybe maybe a dozen people maybe if you motif, 143 00:09:03,436 --> 00:09:05,836 Speaker 6: But that's they're all by invitation. Okay, No. And there's 144 00:09:05,836 --> 00:09:08,396 Speaker 6: a giant paris on the middle, about seven feet across, 145 00:09:08,676 --> 00:09:11,916 Speaker 6: which has eight arms, and each arm is a jar 146 00:09:12,156 --> 00:09:14,796 Speaker 6: glass jar of urine closed off by a metal threat. 147 00:09:14,876 --> 00:09:16,996 Speaker 6: Everything is standless still. Everything is this in fact that 148 00:09:17,036 --> 00:09:17,956 Speaker 6: everything is super clean. 149 00:09:18,236 --> 00:09:22,516 Speaker 1: The jars have all been pre selected from a biological repository. 150 00:09:22,716 --> 00:09:24,956 Speaker 1: Some are filled with urine from people known to have 151 00:09:24,996 --> 00:09:30,236 Speaker 1: suffered from prostate cancer. Others are controls. Florin's job is 152 00:09:30,276 --> 00:09:33,756 Speaker 1: to sniff each jar. If she detects what she believes 153 00:09:33,876 --> 00:09:37,636 Speaker 1: is a positive sample, she's supposed to stop and stare 154 00:09:37,676 --> 00:09:41,236 Speaker 1: at the jar before moving on. Were the people from 155 00:09:41,316 --> 00:09:43,916 Speaker 1: the prostic Foundation skeptical. 156 00:09:44,076 --> 00:09:46,116 Speaker 6: Oh yes, of course, and as rightly they should be. 157 00:09:46,596 --> 00:09:49,316 Speaker 6: You must see this to believe it. Nobody should take 158 00:09:49,356 --> 00:09:52,676 Speaker 6: these kinds of things on just somebody's, especially when we're 159 00:09:52,676 --> 00:09:54,476 Speaker 6: talking about people's lives here, right. 160 00:09:54,796 --> 00:09:57,796 Speaker 1: It was early in the morning. Merchen looked at Florin 161 00:09:58,196 --> 00:10:00,796 Speaker 1: and worried she wasn't up to the task, so they. 162 00:10:00,676 --> 00:10:02,916 Speaker 6: Had brought flooring the dog on first class. Then the 163 00:10:02,956 --> 00:10:06,716 Speaker 6: American customs had to by lod dewarm her, give her medicine, 164 00:10:06,716 --> 00:10:08,876 Speaker 6: so she had to be vomiting. And also some other 165 00:10:09,276 --> 00:10:12,796 Speaker 6: unpleasantless happened to the poor dog. And there's coffee smells everywhere, 166 00:10:12,836 --> 00:10:14,876 Speaker 6: by the way, in the myriad people who are serving breakfast. 167 00:10:14,916 --> 00:10:16,316 Speaker 6: I'm like, oh my god, we're going to confuse this 168 00:10:16,316 --> 00:10:18,556 Speaker 6: dog now with all the coffee. And she's, you know, 169 00:10:18,636 --> 00:10:21,356 Speaker 6: jet lagged and dewormed, and this poor dog is not 170 00:10:21,436 --> 00:10:23,436 Speaker 6: going to perform, and she kicks it out of the park. 171 00:10:24,276 --> 00:10:27,596 Speaker 1: The people from the Prostate Cancer Foundation are so blown 172 00:10:27,596 --> 00:10:30,796 Speaker 1: away they end up funding guests and merchants research project 173 00:10:31,316 --> 00:10:33,956 Speaker 1: to explore the idea that smell might be the best 174 00:10:33,956 --> 00:10:36,116 Speaker 1: way to diagnose a dangerous cancer. 175 00:10:36,036 --> 00:10:37,076 Speaker 4: To a layman like me. 176 00:10:37,196 --> 00:10:42,316 Speaker 1: The idea that a cancer or a virus would have 177 00:10:42,356 --> 00:10:44,476 Speaker 1: a smell is not intuitive. 178 00:10:44,556 --> 00:10:47,196 Speaker 6: It's not the disease itself that has the smell. What 179 00:10:47,236 --> 00:10:49,996 Speaker 6: happens is it changes your body's metabolic pathways, of which 180 00:10:49,996 --> 00:10:52,436 Speaker 6: you have thousands going on in every cell. There's different 181 00:10:52,436 --> 00:10:55,836 Speaker 6: things happening. They change, and many of these pathways, many 182 00:10:55,876 --> 00:10:59,356 Speaker 6: of these processes inside your cells, they have as a 183 00:10:59,356 --> 00:11:02,916 Speaker 6: byproduct odorance. Odorance are volletilor gant and compounds that tend 184 00:11:02,996 --> 00:11:05,876 Speaker 6: to fly around and come out of your body. So cancer, 185 00:11:05,916 --> 00:11:10,236 Speaker 6: for instance, likely leaves an imprint on every emission that 186 00:11:10,236 --> 00:11:13,436 Speaker 6: you have, from sweat to urine, to saliva to tears, 187 00:11:13,436 --> 00:11:14,076 Speaker 6: so you name it. 188 00:11:14,916 --> 00:11:19,636 Speaker 1: Human beings are a site species. Sight is our superpower. 189 00:11:20,036 --> 00:11:22,956 Speaker 1: The biggest web of sensory connections in our brains is 190 00:11:22,996 --> 00:11:27,436 Speaker 1: between our cortex and our eyes. We can differentiate colors 191 00:11:27,436 --> 00:11:30,276 Speaker 1: in a way that few other species can. But as 192 00:11:30,316 --> 00:11:33,876 Speaker 1: our eyesight evolved to get better, our noses got worse. 193 00:11:34,676 --> 00:11:37,636 Speaker 1: As the biologist John Bradshaw puts it, there appear to 194 00:11:37,636 --> 00:11:40,836 Speaker 1: be limits on how much information any brain can process. 195 00:11:41,516 --> 00:11:45,236 Speaker 1: So if you optimize for seeing, you compromise on smelling. 196 00:11:46,276 --> 00:11:50,516 Speaker 1: Dogs make the opposite trade off. Their eyes are mediocre, 197 00:11:50,796 --> 00:11:56,476 Speaker 1: their noses are amazing. To Florin, prostate cancer wasn't a 198 00:11:56,516 --> 00:11:59,476 Speaker 1: clump of cells. It was an odor. An odor is 199 00:11:59,516 --> 00:12:03,956 Speaker 1: so distinctive that it made her stop and stare. Let's 200 00:12:04,036 --> 00:12:08,716 Speaker 1: imagine that you and I both have crostake cancer at 201 00:12:08,716 --> 00:12:09,716 Speaker 1: the same time. Stage. 202 00:12:10,276 --> 00:12:11,556 Speaker 4: Is it fair to assume that we. 203 00:12:12,996 --> 00:12:16,596 Speaker 1: The way in which our bodies smell is our odor 204 00:12:16,636 --> 00:12:19,036 Speaker 1: is altered by that cancer? Correct might not be the 205 00:12:19,076 --> 00:12:23,516 Speaker 1: same exactly. So why can the dog generalize for. 206 00:12:23,436 --> 00:12:25,716 Speaker 6: The same reason that you can generalize the gait You 207 00:12:25,756 --> 00:12:29,316 Speaker 6: can track my footprints if I teach you what footprints 208 00:12:29,316 --> 00:12:32,716 Speaker 6: look like on the website and how they're distributed. So 209 00:12:32,756 --> 00:12:34,836 Speaker 6: the dog learns to identify the footprints on the web 210 00:12:34,836 --> 00:12:36,996 Speaker 6: site where it's easy to see and easy to see 211 00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:40,836 Speaker 6: the gate, and then it generalizes, It extrapolates and says, oh, 212 00:12:40,956 --> 00:12:43,156 Speaker 6: this smells like the stuff that they used to want 213 00:12:43,196 --> 00:12:43,676 Speaker 6: me to find. 214 00:12:44,596 --> 00:12:47,956 Speaker 1: Human beings try to screen for prostate cancer by looking 215 00:12:48,036 --> 00:12:50,596 Speaker 1: for it. Of course we do. We're a species that's 216 00:12:50,636 --> 00:12:53,636 Speaker 1: in love with sight. We ask men over a certain 217 00:12:53,676 --> 00:12:56,196 Speaker 1: age to take a blood test to look for something 218 00:12:56,236 --> 00:13:00,156 Speaker 1: called the prostate specific antigen. And if we see a 219 00:13:00,156 --> 00:13:02,316 Speaker 1: lot of that antigen. We take a closer look at 220 00:13:02,316 --> 00:13:05,516 Speaker 1: the prostate itself. We take half a dozen or more 221 00:13:05,556 --> 00:13:08,116 Speaker 1: little slices of the prostate and look at them under 222 00:13:08,116 --> 00:13:12,236 Speaker 1: the microscope. We look, and we look again. The problem 223 00:13:12,436 --> 00:13:14,636 Speaker 1: is that only around a quarter of men who have 224 00:13:14,716 --> 00:13:19,556 Speaker 1: elevated PSA levels actually end up having prostate cancer. You 225 00:13:19,596 --> 00:13:22,676 Speaker 1: could have high PSA levels for some other reason. You 226 00:13:22,716 --> 00:13:26,236 Speaker 1: could also have normal PSA levels and still have prostate cancer. 227 00:13:26,396 --> 00:13:28,636 Speaker 1: And so the result of all that looking is an 228 00:13:28,756 --> 00:13:31,796 Speaker 1: enormous amount of error. Lots of men are told they 229 00:13:31,796 --> 00:13:34,716 Speaker 1: could have a dangerous cancer when they don't, and lots 230 00:13:34,716 --> 00:13:38,116 Speaker 1: of other men have cancer that gets missed. The prostate 231 00:13:38,316 --> 00:13:41,916 Speaker 1: screening air rate is so bad that many men avoid 232 00:13:41,916 --> 00:13:45,076 Speaker 1: it altogether. I'm not getting tested, Are you kidding me? 233 00:13:45,396 --> 00:13:47,116 Speaker 1: All you have to do is spend a few hours 234 00:13:47,116 --> 00:13:50,156 Speaker 1: reading the available literature, and you realize that looking for 235 00:13:50,236 --> 00:13:54,196 Speaker 1: early signs of prostate cancer is a fool's game. It's 236 00:13:54,276 --> 00:14:00,356 Speaker 1: really really hard. But Florin the dog didn't look. Florin 237 00:14:00,476 --> 00:14:04,956 Speaker 1: bypassed all that nonsense. Florina just sniffed and did Florin 238 00:14:05,036 --> 00:14:06,076 Speaker 1: make any mistake? Oh? 239 00:14:06,156 --> 00:14:08,996 Speaker 6: Sure, of course, if something is one hundred percent right, 240 00:14:09,116 --> 00:14:11,956 Speaker 6: it's one hundred percent wrong. So yes, there's definitely errors 241 00:14:11,996 --> 00:14:14,716 Speaker 6: in the samples, and the dog can definitely make errors. However, 242 00:14:14,876 --> 00:14:18,396 Speaker 6: you should remember this, so do all of our tests. 243 00:14:19,196 --> 00:14:21,756 Speaker 6: And currently the dogs are better than any test. 244 00:14:22,356 --> 00:14:25,916 Speaker 1: Notice how he said dogs are better. It's not like 245 00:14:26,036 --> 00:14:28,916 Speaker 1: Flowing is some kind of super dog the Usain Bolt 246 00:14:28,916 --> 00:14:32,556 Speaker 1: of the canine world. Lots of dogs could do just 247 00:14:32,636 --> 00:14:33,236 Speaker 1: what she did. 248 00:14:34,756 --> 00:14:37,276 Speaker 6: A dog can do better than the tests you trust, 249 00:14:37,836 --> 00:14:39,356 Speaker 6: and you don't trust the dog, And I'm glad you 250 00:14:39,356 --> 00:14:41,716 Speaker 6: don't trust the dog. We have to not trust the dog. 251 00:14:41,796 --> 00:14:45,436 Speaker 6: The dog is teaching us Now. Dogs are definitely error prone, 252 00:14:45,476 --> 00:14:48,476 Speaker 6: same as everything else. But currently, and this is a 253 00:14:48,516 --> 00:14:51,836 Speaker 6: mind blowing statistic, of all the diseases that have ever 254 00:14:51,876 --> 00:14:54,316 Speaker 6: been tried to be identified by trained dog, all of 255 00:14:54,356 --> 00:14:57,916 Speaker 6: them have succeeded. That is mind blowing. It should be 256 00:14:58,236 --> 00:15:00,076 Speaker 6: we should be paying attention to this. What the hell 257 00:15:00,156 --> 00:15:02,636 Speaker 6: is happening where we can't make this thing not work? 258 00:15:03,236 --> 00:15:06,396 Speaker 6: I mean, shouldn't you be angry at this? I mean, 259 00:15:06,436 --> 00:15:07,476 Speaker 6: come on, what are we doing? 260 00:15:09,116 --> 00:15:09,196 Speaker 2: Well? 261 00:15:09,556 --> 00:15:28,636 Speaker 1: Exactly what are we doing? The chief research scientist for 262 00:15:28,716 --> 00:15:32,276 Speaker 1: three sixty K nine is a man named Bill Schneider, doctor, 263 00:15:32,516 --> 00:15:36,116 Speaker 1: William Schneider. Schneider used to work at Fort Dietrich, the 264 00:15:36,236 --> 00:15:39,076 Speaker 1: army garrison in Maryland where the Pentagon does its top 265 00:15:39,156 --> 00:15:45,116 Speaker 1: secret biodefense work. Schneider's specialty was plant virology, diseases that 266 00:15:45,156 --> 00:15:47,476 Speaker 1: affect things like peach or cherry trees. 267 00:15:47,676 --> 00:15:52,436 Speaker 5: I come from a plant background, but being at Fort Dietrich, 268 00:15:52,516 --> 00:15:55,396 Speaker 5: I had access to a lot of tools and toys 269 00:15:55,436 --> 00:15:59,356 Speaker 5: that typical scientists didn't have in their repertoire, and I'd 270 00:15:59,396 --> 00:16:00,476 Speaker 5: been playing around with those. 271 00:16:00,916 --> 00:16:05,356 Speaker 1: But then, just like Andreas Mershin over at MIT, Schneider 272 00:16:05,436 --> 00:16:09,076 Speaker 1: began to hear of the supposedly miraculous powers of dogs, 273 00:16:09,596 --> 00:16:12,676 Speaker 1: so he decided to hold a sniff off. Fort Dietrich 274 00:16:12,796 --> 00:16:15,796 Speaker 1: has a special containment facility where they could do an 275 00:16:15,836 --> 00:16:20,116 Speaker 1: actual head to head challenge comparing detection results between a 276 00:16:20,156 --> 00:16:25,396 Speaker 1: dog and one of modern science's highest tech tests. Schneider 277 00:16:25,476 --> 00:16:28,916 Speaker 1: chose as the test case a plant virus called plum 278 00:16:29,036 --> 00:16:32,516 Speaker 1: pux and bet against the dogs. He was a lab guy, 279 00:16:33,036 --> 00:16:33,916 Speaker 1: not a dog guy. 280 00:16:34,716 --> 00:16:37,916 Speaker 5: Yeah, you name it. We had access to it. Gas chromatography, 281 00:16:38,076 --> 00:16:43,956 Speaker 5: mass spectrometry, all sorts of very deep sequencing, heavy duty 282 00:16:44,036 --> 00:16:49,356 Speaker 5: nucleic acid analysis. Things that are pretty darn cool actually, 283 00:16:49,396 --> 00:16:52,636 Speaker 5: and not one single one of them can beat the dogs. 284 00:16:52,996 --> 00:16:57,636 Speaker 5: In fact, the US Army invested about nineteen billion dollars 285 00:16:57,676 --> 00:17:02,356 Speaker 5: in trying to find a machine that could detect explosives 286 00:17:02,356 --> 00:17:06,156 Speaker 5: better than dogs, and in the end, all these projects 287 00:17:06,236 --> 00:17:08,236 Speaker 5: nothing could come close to what the dogs can do. 288 00:17:08,716 --> 00:17:10,756 Speaker 5: So I had to convert myself. 289 00:17:11,196 --> 00:17:15,796 Speaker 1: Bill Schneider, the convert, decided to change careers. He left 290 00:17:15,836 --> 00:17:20,836 Speaker 1: government work started making sophisticated canine training aids. I come 291 00:17:20,876 --> 00:17:23,196 Speaker 1: to you, Bill, and I say, Bill, we have a new, 292 00:17:23,956 --> 00:17:25,556 Speaker 1: highly infectious virus out there. 293 00:17:25,596 --> 00:17:28,236 Speaker 4: We know almost nothing about it. What do you do next? 294 00:17:29,076 --> 00:17:32,516 Speaker 5: I say, I need the genomic information. So that's a 295 00:17:32,636 --> 00:17:36,556 Speaker 5: key step in practically any diagnostics these days, and with 296 00:17:37,116 --> 00:17:41,276 Speaker 5: good purpose, because when you have genomic information, you can 297 00:17:41,316 --> 00:17:44,436 Speaker 5: design assays, or in my case, you can design a 298 00:17:44,516 --> 00:17:48,356 Speaker 5: training aid that will teach a dog to directly detect 299 00:17:48,356 --> 00:17:52,956 Speaker 5: that you're making a cent. Yes exactly, You're. 300 00:17:52,916 --> 00:17:56,676 Speaker 4: You're looking at a blueprint and you're saying, ah, ye, gene, 301 00:17:56,756 --> 00:18:00,436 Speaker 4: this protein, this protein, this protein, this protein. I can 302 00:18:00,956 --> 00:18:02,716 Speaker 4: construct that in a lab. 303 00:18:03,396 --> 00:18:03,996 Speaker 5: Yeah. 304 00:18:04,116 --> 00:18:08,116 Speaker 1: Florin the prostate cancer dog was trained on samples taken 305 00:18:08,276 --> 00:18:12,756 Speaker 1: directly from people with prostate cancer. Schneider was taking the 306 00:18:12,796 --> 00:18:16,076 Speaker 1: next step, figuring out a way to extract the scent 307 00:18:16,236 --> 00:18:22,196 Speaker 1: of the disease itself, refining the process creating customized disease 308 00:18:22,436 --> 00:18:26,516 Speaker 1: fragrances that could be shipped overnight to dogs anywhere in 309 00:18:26,556 --> 00:18:30,316 Speaker 1: the world. I'm assuming you're avoiding everything that has to 310 00:18:30,356 --> 00:18:33,596 Speaker 1: do with actual virulence, contagiousness. 311 00:18:33,956 --> 00:18:36,156 Speaker 4: It's an inert it's a harmless substance. 312 00:18:36,316 --> 00:18:39,036 Speaker 5: Yeah, you could eat it if you wanted to. I 313 00:18:39,036 --> 00:18:41,916 Speaker 5: wouldn't taste all that great, but yeah, it's completely safe, 314 00:18:42,236 --> 00:18:44,996 Speaker 5: it's completely stable. You can make as much of it 315 00:18:45,036 --> 00:18:45,556 Speaker 5: as you want. 316 00:18:45,756 --> 00:18:49,996 Speaker 1: Yeah, now we have a little vial of something that 317 00:18:50,116 --> 00:18:57,436 Speaker 1: has a characteristic odorit You and I can't smell that. 318 00:18:58,276 --> 00:19:01,396 Speaker 5: Nope. No, In fact, I would have bet you a 319 00:19:01,436 --> 00:19:04,316 Speaker 5: lot of money that nothing could smell it, because in 320 00:19:04,396 --> 00:19:07,116 Speaker 5: our mind, none of these things had sent. 321 00:19:09,196 --> 00:19:13,316 Speaker 1: The world. Scientists were studying and refining the diagnostic power 322 00:19:13,316 --> 00:19:16,636 Speaker 1: of dogs. Then COVID nineteen. 323 00:19:16,316 --> 00:19:20,756 Speaker 7: Happened, breaking news tonight, the coronavirus forcing millions more Americans 324 00:19:20,796 --> 00:19:25,516 Speaker 7: into virtual lockdown. Over seventy five million people in New York, California, Illinois, 325 00:19:25,516 --> 00:19:27,716 Speaker 7: and Connecticut ordered to stay at home. 326 00:19:28,196 --> 00:19:31,196 Speaker 1: Bill Schneider realized that his technique of making these little 327 00:19:31,236 --> 00:19:35,276 Speaker 1: vials of disease fragrance might prove really useful. 328 00:19:36,396 --> 00:19:38,356 Speaker 4: There's really reason to believe that COVID might be the 329 00:19:38,396 --> 00:19:39,796 Speaker 4: exception to this pattern. 330 00:19:40,956 --> 00:19:44,956 Speaker 5: Not in my mind, no, No. Once I crossed that 331 00:19:45,076 --> 00:19:47,756 Speaker 5: threshold with the original virus that we've worked on, which 332 00:19:47,796 --> 00:19:51,396 Speaker 5: was that plumphaks virus, I knew you could translate this, 333 00:19:51,796 --> 00:19:55,556 Speaker 5: not just to another virus in plants, I can take 334 00:19:55,716 --> 00:19:59,756 Speaker 5: and transfer that to humans or cattle or swine or 335 00:19:59,916 --> 00:20:03,276 Speaker 5: chickens or anything, and off you go. 336 00:20:04,476 --> 00:20:08,516 Speaker 1: COVID first services at the end of twenty nineteen. The 337 00:20:08,596 --> 00:20:13,116 Speaker 1: novel Coronavirus Genome is published. In early January of twenty twenty, 338 00:20:13,476 --> 00:20:16,476 Speaker 1: the Who declares a pandemic that spring. 339 00:20:16,796 --> 00:20:19,836 Speaker 7: And across the country. There's demand for COVID nineteen testing 340 00:20:20,076 --> 00:20:22,116 Speaker 7: as positive cases are on the rise. 341 00:20:22,556 --> 00:20:25,236 Speaker 6: Some people have had to wait longer than two weeks 342 00:20:25,396 --> 00:20:26,716 Speaker 6: to receive results. 343 00:20:28,476 --> 00:20:30,956 Speaker 1: While the world is in lockdown. In the early summer 344 00:20:30,996 --> 00:20:34,836 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty, Bill Schneider's lab gets going synthesizing the 345 00:20:34,876 --> 00:20:37,516 Speaker 1: proteins that make up the smell of SARS COB two. 346 00:20:38,036 --> 00:20:42,756 Speaker 1: The trainers start training dogs on it. Hardworking, focused, unflappable 347 00:20:42,796 --> 00:20:46,236 Speaker 1: dogs who really loved the idea of sniffing nine to five. 348 00:20:46,596 --> 00:20:49,756 Speaker 5: By the time we got to September fifteenth, we were 349 00:20:49,916 --> 00:20:53,716 Speaker 5: starting to collect clinical samples from people who were confirmed positive, 350 00:20:54,076 --> 00:20:56,476 Speaker 5: and we were checking the dogs on those clinical samples, 351 00:20:56,556 --> 00:20:58,756 Speaker 5: and they didn't miss a beat. They were ninety nine 352 00:20:58,756 --> 00:21:02,876 Speaker 5: percent accurate. And at that point I was very confident 353 00:21:02,956 --> 00:21:07,076 Speaker 5: that the dogs we were training could detect COVID in 354 00:21:07,236 --> 00:21:14,476 Speaker 5: people's masks, on their sacks, in sweat and saliva labs. 355 00:21:14,756 --> 00:21:18,876 Speaker 1: Shepherds Belgian Malona was floppy year pointy year. Doesn't much matter. 356 00:21:19,036 --> 00:21:21,796 Speaker 1: What matters is that they're a dog. They have a big, 357 00:21:21,996 --> 00:21:25,556 Speaker 1: powerful nose, and they're perfectly happy to put that magnificent 358 00:21:25,636 --> 00:21:28,676 Speaker 1: nose to work in the service of helping all of us. 359 00:21:29,356 --> 00:21:40,476 Speaker 1: They're best friends. Let's think about some of the options 360 00:21:40,476 --> 00:21:44,236 Speaker 1: we have when detecting a deadly new pathogen as it 361 00:21:44,316 --> 00:21:48,396 Speaker 1: moves through a human population. One option is what we 362 00:21:48,516 --> 00:21:51,076 Speaker 1: ended up trying with COVID in the United States. We 363 00:21:51,196 --> 00:21:53,996 Speaker 1: make you come to a testing site stand in line 364 00:21:54,036 --> 00:21:56,196 Speaker 1: with a lot of people who also think they might 365 00:21:56,196 --> 00:21:59,076 Speaker 1: have COVID. Really good idea, by the way, stick a 366 00:21:59,156 --> 00:22:02,196 Speaker 1: nasty swab up your nose, charge you a couple hundred dollars, 367 00:22:02,556 --> 00:22:06,516 Speaker 1: use an insanely expensive and complicated and high tech system 368 00:22:06,716 --> 00:22:09,996 Speaker 1: called PCR to give you an answer that may or 369 00:22:09,996 --> 00:22:12,356 Speaker 1: may not be useful because it didn't always get to 370 00:22:12,356 --> 00:22:15,316 Speaker 1: you in time. Remember, sometimes it would take forever to 371 00:22:15,316 --> 00:22:18,396 Speaker 1: get your test results, sometimes two weeks, and maybe in 372 00:22:18,396 --> 00:22:21,276 Speaker 1: those two weeks while you were waiting, you were infecting 373 00:22:21,316 --> 00:22:24,556 Speaker 1: everyone you med. The result of all the cost and 374 00:22:24,596 --> 00:22:29,036 Speaker 1: inconvenience and hassle and imperfection of Option one was that 375 00:22:29,156 --> 00:22:32,716 Speaker 1: we've never done enough testing at any stage of the pandemic. 376 00:22:32,996 --> 00:22:36,396 Speaker 1: And because we didn't do enough testing, the pandemic sword 377 00:22:36,476 --> 00:22:40,316 Speaker 1: out of control. Someone has a wedding or a Thanksgiving dinner, 378 00:22:40,396 --> 00:22:43,436 Speaker 1: and in a perfect world everyone would get tested before coming, 379 00:22:43,756 --> 00:22:46,356 Speaker 1: but of course they don't, and one person ends up 380 00:22:46,396 --> 00:22:49,356 Speaker 1: infecting ten other people, and maybe one or two of 381 00:22:49,396 --> 00:22:54,236 Speaker 1: those ten will die. All these horror stories have at 382 00:22:54,316 --> 00:23:03,236 Speaker 1: their core a failure of disease detection. I emailed Michael 383 00:23:03,276 --> 00:23:06,076 Speaker 1: Minna at the Harvard School of Public Health, who was 384 00:23:06,116 --> 00:23:07,996 Speaker 1: one of the big critics of the way we tested 385 00:23:07,996 --> 00:23:10,876 Speaker 1: for COVID, and this is what he wrote back about 386 00:23:10,916 --> 00:23:13,596 Speaker 1: the way testing works. It has to do with what 387 00:23:13,676 --> 00:23:17,596 Speaker 1: epidemiologists called are not, which is the average number of 388 00:23:17,676 --> 00:23:22,236 Speaker 1: people infected by an infected person. If an epidemic has 389 00:23:22,316 --> 00:23:26,716 Speaker 1: are not above one, it grows exponentially. If are not 390 00:23:26,956 --> 00:23:32,156 Speaker 1: falls below one, an epidemic dies out. Here's what Minna wrote. 391 00:23:32,596 --> 00:23:36,316 Speaker 1: This whole pandemic and all of the massive outbreaks we've 392 00:23:36,316 --> 00:23:39,036 Speaker 1: seen have been with an or not of about one 393 00:23:39,036 --> 00:23:43,996 Speaker 1: point three. That means that every ten people infected went 394 00:23:44,076 --> 00:23:48,636 Speaker 1: on to infect on average thirteen people. Well, in that case, 395 00:23:48,916 --> 00:23:52,276 Speaker 1: if you have one hundred people infected on day one, 396 00:23:52,396 --> 00:23:55,716 Speaker 1: then thirty days later you have about six hundred new 397 00:23:55,756 --> 00:24:01,916 Speaker 1: infections exponential growth end quote. All we had to do 398 00:24:02,476 --> 00:24:06,036 Speaker 1: to stop the pandemic was to test just enough people 399 00:24:06,236 --> 00:24:10,596 Speaker 1: and prevent just enough new infections so that those ten 400 00:24:10,916 --> 00:24:15,676 Speaker 1: newly infected people only infected on average nine other people. 401 00:24:16,636 --> 00:24:19,636 Speaker 1: We just had to move the needle a little bit, 402 00:24:20,676 --> 00:24:23,916 Speaker 1: and we couldn't do it. Option one was one of 403 00:24:23,996 --> 00:24:28,236 Speaker 1: the most criminally stupid acts of public health incompetence in 404 00:24:28,276 --> 00:24:37,556 Speaker 1: American history. Now imagine another option. Just move to a hypothetical. 405 00:24:37,676 --> 00:24:40,396 Speaker 1: So I'm a high school, Okay, I want to reopen. 406 00:24:40,796 --> 00:24:43,276 Speaker 1: We're in the middle of the raging pandemic and I 407 00:24:43,356 --> 00:24:45,316 Speaker 1: come to you and I say, I want to use 408 00:24:45,356 --> 00:24:47,996 Speaker 1: your service. Are we talking? How would you tell me 409 00:24:48,036 --> 00:24:50,596 Speaker 1: how you would fix that up? I'm talking to Jerry Johnson, 410 00:24:50,756 --> 00:24:54,236 Speaker 1: who runs biodetection at three sixty K nine dog at 411 00:24:54,236 --> 00:24:54,716 Speaker 1: the front door. 412 00:24:54,876 --> 00:24:57,196 Speaker 3: Yeah, first fifty kids come in, they stand on their spot, 413 00:24:57,476 --> 00:24:59,916 Speaker 3: Doc searches them, they go into class. The next fifty 414 00:24:59,956 --> 00:25:03,116 Speaker 3: comes in. We could do that, you know, relatively quickly, 415 00:25:03,436 --> 00:25:05,476 Speaker 3: you know, and maybe you have some coming in the gymnasium, 416 00:25:05,556 --> 00:25:08,996 Speaker 3: some coming in the cafeteria. It's all about having the 417 00:25:09,236 --> 00:25:11,476 Speaker 3: real estate to get the children lined up. 418 00:25:11,876 --> 00:25:13,596 Speaker 1: So and you could do that with one dog or 419 00:25:13,596 --> 00:25:16,356 Speaker 1: two dogs. You would want two dogs, Yeah, particularly if 420 00:25:16,636 --> 00:25:19,836 Speaker 1: if it's a public health issue and school children doing 421 00:25:19,916 --> 00:25:22,636 Speaker 1: the dog's be very very thorough. So if the dog's 422 00:25:22,716 --> 00:25:24,996 Speaker 1: condition to work forty five minutes, we'd want to stop 423 00:25:24,996 --> 00:25:27,156 Speaker 1: at thirty just to make sure that the dog is 424 00:25:27,476 --> 00:25:31,156 Speaker 1: not fatiguing at all. A PCR test costs somewhere in 425 00:25:31,156 --> 00:25:33,476 Speaker 1: the range of one hundred and fifty dollars and you 426 00:25:33,516 --> 00:25:36,676 Speaker 1: wait forever for the result. The cost of a dog 427 00:25:36,756 --> 00:25:40,036 Speaker 1: test once you factored in the dog, the training paying 428 00:25:40,036 --> 00:25:44,116 Speaker 1: the handler is something like two dollars and fifty cents 429 00:25:44,116 --> 00:25:47,636 Speaker 1: a test, and the dog gives you the answer immediately. 430 00:25:48,476 --> 00:25:51,356 Speaker 1: So the dog is you got these kids lined up. 431 00:25:51,676 --> 00:25:55,676 Speaker 1: Dog sniff snifsniff snif sniff finds a dog has a positive, right, 432 00:25:55,716 --> 00:25:58,036 Speaker 1: what is the dog doing? It just sits just so. 433 00:25:58,076 --> 00:25:59,556 Speaker 3: When the dog goes downline. What we like to do 434 00:25:59,596 --> 00:26:01,876 Speaker 3: is we line people up, we have them, we have 435 00:26:01,956 --> 00:26:04,676 Speaker 3: the dog go down as they're facing forward. The dog 436 00:26:04,876 --> 00:26:08,436 Speaker 3: goes down the left hand side of the line and 437 00:26:08,476 --> 00:26:11,676 Speaker 3: it just does it quick. You'll see it's a minimally 438 00:26:11,716 --> 00:26:14,836 Speaker 3: invasive search. The dog will put its nose on the 439 00:26:14,876 --> 00:26:16,676 Speaker 3: back of the person's hand. They target the hand if 440 00:26:16,676 --> 00:26:18,596 Speaker 3: you have otn toad shoes, and might target your feet. 441 00:26:18,836 --> 00:26:22,316 Speaker 3: But it makes quick contact with the skin. But then 442 00:26:22,356 --> 00:26:24,716 Speaker 3: it keeps going. The dog won't really break stride. If 443 00:26:24,756 --> 00:26:26,436 Speaker 3: it gets an odor and there's a presence of virus, 444 00:26:26,436 --> 00:26:29,236 Speaker 3: then you'll see the dog stop, it'll sniff more, it'll investigate, 445 00:26:29,476 --> 00:26:31,556 Speaker 3: and then I'll go into the sit response. 446 00:26:31,676 --> 00:26:34,316 Speaker 1: So that person who's been identified as a dog as 447 00:26:34,396 --> 00:26:36,636 Speaker 1: positive is then pulled out for secondary screen. 448 00:26:36,596 --> 00:26:38,556 Speaker 3: They take them a second go the nurse's office and get. 449 00:26:38,516 --> 00:26:41,716 Speaker 1: A rabbit tast the next time a pandemic hits. We 450 00:26:41,796 --> 00:26:44,556 Speaker 1: could have dogs at the front door of every school 451 00:26:44,596 --> 00:26:47,476 Speaker 1: in America. We could have dogs at the front door 452 00:26:47,476 --> 00:26:50,836 Speaker 1: of restaurants, and dogs in bars, and dogs in train stations, 453 00:26:50,996 --> 00:26:53,996 Speaker 1: and dogs at the airport. We could have dogs walking 454 00:26:54,076 --> 00:26:56,916 Speaker 1: down the street checking out everyone on the sidewalk. Your 455 00:26:56,956 --> 00:26:59,716 Speaker 1: block could bend together and have a dog come every 456 00:26:59,796 --> 00:27:02,636 Speaker 1: night at dinner time to sniff everyone. You could hire 457 00:27:02,636 --> 00:27:05,796 Speaker 1: a dog along with caterers at your daughter's wedding or 458 00:27:05,836 --> 00:27:08,796 Speaker 1: your son's bar mitzvah, or every Sunday morning at church 459 00:27:08,916 --> 00:27:11,916 Speaker 1: to make sure you aren't holding a super spreader event. 460 00:27:12,916 --> 00:27:16,276 Speaker 1: Dogs give us the power to move the needle from 461 00:27:16,316 --> 00:27:19,516 Speaker 1: an are not of one to an are not of 462 00:27:19,516 --> 00:27:28,276 Speaker 1: something less than one. That is option two, the canine option. 463 00:27:29,756 --> 00:27:33,196 Speaker 1: But will we go down that path? Forgive me if 464 00:27:33,236 --> 00:27:36,756 Speaker 1: I'm skeptical, because to take option two, we will need 465 00:27:37,076 --> 00:27:40,076 Speaker 1: tens of thousands of dogs, and we don't have tens 466 00:27:40,076 --> 00:27:43,196 Speaker 1: of thousands of dogs trained and ready. And why don't 467 00:27:43,236 --> 00:27:46,236 Speaker 1: we have a whole national Canine Guard trained and ready, 468 00:27:46,276 --> 00:27:50,236 Speaker 1: matched up with their handlers for any conceivable future pandemic. 469 00:27:50,476 --> 00:27:54,676 Speaker 1: A strategic poppy reserve to call on whenever an emergency happens, 470 00:27:55,316 --> 00:27:58,196 Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, we don't really 471 00:27:58,236 --> 00:28:02,556 Speaker 1: believe in dogs. We like them as friends, sure, but 472 00:28:02,716 --> 00:28:25,116 Speaker 1: not as medical diagnosticians. Maybe you remain unconvinced that dogs 473 00:28:25,116 --> 00:28:28,316 Speaker 1: could prevent the next pandemic. It sounds goofy, I know, 474 00:28:28,596 --> 00:28:32,516 Speaker 1: panting labradors everywhere. The dog does not wear a white coat. 475 00:28:32,876 --> 00:28:34,916 Speaker 1: She did not go to medical school or have a 476 00:28:34,996 --> 00:28:38,156 Speaker 1: row of diplomas on the wall of her doghouse. She 477 00:28:38,276 --> 00:28:43,836 Speaker 1: just uses her big wet nose. But allow me a brief, final, 478 00:28:44,036 --> 00:28:49,516 Speaker 1: and hopefully persuasive digression on the indelicate subject of colonoscopies. 479 00:28:49,996 --> 00:28:53,356 Speaker 1: Have you had one? You should? It might save your life. 480 00:28:53,836 --> 00:28:56,316 Speaker 1: But if you're over the age of fifty and haven't 481 00:28:56,356 --> 00:28:58,876 Speaker 1: gotten around to getting one yet, I think I know 482 00:28:58,956 --> 00:29:01,596 Speaker 1: why they are a pain in the You know what, 483 00:29:02,516 --> 00:29:04,436 Speaker 1: You can't eat for twenty four hours, then you go 484 00:29:04,476 --> 00:29:07,476 Speaker 1: to a medical office and suffer the indignity of being 485 00:29:07,476 --> 00:29:12,196 Speaker 1: impaled on something long and painful. But ten guesses about 486 00:29:12,236 --> 00:29:18,356 Speaker 1: who is really really good at detecting colon cancer? Yes? Dogs? 487 00:29:18,676 --> 00:29:21,836 Speaker 1: May I refer you to the following research paper published 488 00:29:21,876 --> 00:29:26,796 Speaker 1: in the prestigious Journal Gut Volume sixty, issue six, First 489 00:29:26,916 --> 00:29:30,756 Speaker 1: author Hideto Sonata of the School of Medicine at Kiyushu 490 00:29:30,876 --> 00:29:36,756 Speaker 1: University in Japan, entitled Coorectal Cancer screening with odor material 491 00:29:36,996 --> 00:29:40,796 Speaker 1: by canine scent detection, with the conclusion that a dog 492 00:29:41,156 --> 00:29:45,636 Speaker 1: is just as good as any alternative modern medicine has 493 00:29:45,676 --> 00:29:50,596 Speaker 1: come up with. When was that paper published January of 494 00:29:50,676 --> 00:29:53,636 Speaker 1: twenty eleven. That's how long we have known that a 495 00:29:53,676 --> 00:29:56,996 Speaker 1: dog with a few months of training can come trotting 496 00:29:56,996 --> 00:29:59,996 Speaker 1: in and save the day. But when you go to 497 00:30:00,036 --> 00:30:03,996 Speaker 1: your gastro entrologist, do you see a dog waiting there? No, 498 00:30:04,156 --> 00:30:07,956 Speaker 1: you don't, because we don't believe in smell. We believe 499 00:30:07,956 --> 00:30:12,036 Speaker 1: in sight. We more faith in the impossibly complicated and 500 00:30:12,156 --> 00:30:17,636 Speaker 1: expensive and inefficient products of our own technological imagination than 501 00:30:17,676 --> 00:30:20,596 Speaker 1: we do in the superpowers that nature has bestowed on 502 00:30:20,716 --> 00:30:27,956 Speaker 1: other animals. We are, as a species narcissists, and with 503 00:30:28,076 --> 00:30:42,036 Speaker 1: covid our narcissism caught up with us. We don't have 504 00:30:42,116 --> 00:30:45,276 Speaker 1: to live in an imperfect world. We can fix things. 505 00:30:45,516 --> 00:30:49,956 Speaker 1: We can mend the broken and upgrade the mediocre, But 506 00:30:50,116 --> 00:30:55,276 Speaker 1: first we need to get over ourselves. Let coolie and 507 00:30:55,436 --> 00:30:59,476 Speaker 1: coal and Florin show us The Way to a Better 508 00:30:59,556 --> 00:31:16,716 Speaker 1: Future Revisionist History is produced by Mea La Belle, Lee 509 00:31:16,796 --> 00:31:22,396 Speaker 1: Mingistu and Jacob Smith, with Elouise Linton and Annanaye. Our 510 00:31:22,516 --> 00:31:26,476 Speaker 1: editor is Julia Barton. Original scoring by Luis Kira, mastering 511 00:31:26,516 --> 00:31:30,796 Speaker 1: by Flon Williams, and engineering by Martine Gonzalez. Fact checking 512 00:31:30,836 --> 00:31:35,076 Speaker 1: by Amy Gaines. Special thanks to the Pushkin crew Hetephane, 513 00:31:35,156 --> 00:31:40,396 Speaker 1: Carl Migliori, Maya Knigg, Daniello lacand Maggie Taylor, Eric Sandler, 514 00:31:40,676 --> 00:31:45,876 Speaker 1: Nicole Morano, Jason Gambrel and of course Jacob Weisberg, and 515 00:31:45,956 --> 00:31:50,836 Speaker 1: a special thanks to the dogs of Pushkin past and present, Coco, Finn, 516 00:31:51,316 --> 00:31:58,876 Speaker 1: Dash Potus, Collette, Ninja Dorley, funder Lichtenburg, Linus, Zuzu, Freeway, 517 00:31:58,876 --> 00:32:05,836 Speaker 1: the Poodle Max, Sparky, Roxy, Rosie Oslo and Mine Biggie 518 00:32:05,876 --> 00:32:12,196 Speaker 1: Smalls a brilliant, harascible, adorable cat. I know, I know, 519 00:32:12,316 --> 00:32:15,916 Speaker 1: after all that I'm a cat person. Sorry everyone, see 520 00:32:15,956 --> 00:32:16,636 Speaker 1: you next season. 521 00:32:36,556 --> 00:32:37,516 Speaker 6: But is there a road here? 522 00:32:37,596 --> 00:32:39,716 Speaker 1: Guys? We have to I don't think there's a road here. 523 00:32:39,756 --> 00:32:41,836 Speaker 4: I think this is this look. 524 00:32:43,236 --> 00:32:46,276 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, it could be wrong, but it looks like 525 00:32:46,316 --> 00:32:46,676 Speaker 1: a road. 526 00:32:46,676 --> 00:32:48,436 Speaker 4: To me, Yeah, it's road. 527 00:32:49,596 --> 00:32:51,796 Speaker 1: Let's follow for guys, We're going to the land of 528 00:32:51,836 --> 00:32:54,916 Speaker 1: the nose. How can you not follow your nose? Does 529 00:32:54,916 --> 00:32:56,996 Speaker 1: a dog? You look on the dogs. Do not look 530 00:32:57,036 --> 00:33:01,356 Speaker 1: on Google Maps. You're looking at ways, following your nose. 531 00:33:03,356 --> 00:33:03,876 Speaker 6: That's true. 532 00:33:03,996 --> 00:33:05,316 Speaker 4: Last season did not have waves. 533 00:33:05,836 --> 00:33:06,116 Speaker 1: No