1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,239 Speaker 1: Lauren vog obamb here, how would you like to live 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: five times longer than a mammal your size has any 4 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: right to expect? It sounds great? Right? But wait? Would 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: you still be interested if it meant you had to 6 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: live out your days looking like a tiny alien dressed 7 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: in an old sock made from the skin of somebody's 8 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: hard living grandpa. Take a minute to think it over. 9 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 1: Naked mole rats taxonomic name Heterocephalus glaber have made their 10 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: evolutionary choice in this regard. This cold blooded rodent is 11 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: incredibly long lived. They routinely lived the ripe age of 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,559 Speaker 1: thirty five. Compare that to porcupines and guinea pigs, close relatives, 13 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: which usually live no longer than age eight. Naked mole 14 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: rats very rarely get cancer, are nearly incapable of feeling pain, 15 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: and when the oxygen runs out in their underground tunnels, 16 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: they basically start acting like plants. Their bodies automatically switched 17 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: from using oxygen to process glucose into energy in their 18 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: cells to process reserved stores of fructose into energy like 19 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:06,400 Speaker 1: a plant. Wood no oxygen necessary, and in a study 20 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: published in eighteen based on analysis of the life histories 21 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: of thousands of naked mole rats, researchers found that while 22 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: the rodents not only live incredibly long lives, they also 23 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: don't really age seriously. Their risk of dying just doesn't 24 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: really seem to increase as they get older, and female 25 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: fertility doesn't seem to decline with age either. The term 26 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: for this is negligible. Sentizens and lobsters and glapcost tortoises 27 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: are two other examples of animals with these qualities. Study 28 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: author Rochelle Buffenstein, a comparative biologist who works for the 29 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: longevity focused California biotech company Calico, has studied naked mole 30 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: rats for more than three decades and has recorded the 31 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: life history of each of the three thousand, three hundred 32 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: and twenty nine animals that have passed through her lab 33 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: in that time. What she's found is that naked mole 34 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: rats are a huge exception to the slightly unsettling Gumpert's 35 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: Law of mortality, which was developed in eighteen twenty five 36 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: by British mathematician and insurance actuary Benjamin Bomparts to assign 37 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: a mathematical formula to the phenomenon of aging. Actuaries calculate 38 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: the financial risk and insurance company assumes by ensuring a 39 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: given person. For humans, the Gomperts law states that after 40 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: the age of thirty, the likelihood that we're going to 41 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: die doubles every eight years. Some variation of this law 42 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: applies to basically every other mammal we know about, with 43 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: the exception of Buffenstein's lab reared mole rats. Once Buffenstein's 44 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: naked mole rats reached sexual maturity at about six months 45 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: of age, she found the likelihood that they would croak 46 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,360 Speaker 1: reached around one in ten thousand, where it hovered for 47 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: the rest of their lives. Since only a few of 48 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: Buffenstein's naked mole rats were not killed in experiments or 49 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: moved to other labs, we don't actually know how or 50 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 1: if the naked mole rats strong longevity game eventually hits 51 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: a wall. The oldest individual in the study is currently 52 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: thirty five years old, so who knows. Aging could happen 53 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: really quickly for these superheroes after a certain point in time, 54 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: But for the rest of the over thirty mammal crowd 55 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: out there try to have a just okay day to 56 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: day in spite of the fact that the likelihood of 57 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: your death is roughly doubling by the decade. Today's episode 58 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: was written by Jesslin Shields and produced by Tyler Clang. 59 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radios How Stuff Works. 60 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: For more in this and lots of other well preserved topics, 61 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how stuff works dot com, and 62 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: for more podcast from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 63 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 64 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: favorite shows.