WEBVTT - Do Other Animals Practice Social Distancing?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Volga bam Here. New words and

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<v Speaker 1>meanings are entering our lexicon all the time. The Oxford

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<v Speaker 1>English Dictionary, for example, updates with hundreds or thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>new and revised entries every quarter of every year, and

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<v Speaker 1>one entry that was updated in a special unscheduled release

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<v Speaker 1>by Miriam Webster in March was social distancing. And although

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<v Speaker 1>this term continues to be sadly relevant for us here

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<v Speaker 1>at the beginning of two, it turns out that we're

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<v Speaker 1>not the only ones keeping our distance. A study published

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<v Speaker 1>in Behavioral Ecology in October showed the vampire bats distanced

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<v Speaker 1>themselves from healthy bats when they're sick. Previous research has

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<v Speaker 1>shown similar findings with different animals in a lab setting,

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<v Speaker 1>but to get the same results in the wild was

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<v Speaker 1>quote really cool. That's according to Simon Rippager, the studies

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<v Speaker 1>lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the Ohio State

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<v Speaker 1>University or o s U for the article This episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on how Stuff Work. Spoke with Ripprager in

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<v Speaker 1>he said there are similar reports from mice, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>that act similar to vampire bats, but also social insects

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<v Speaker 1>and lobsters and all kinds of animals. It's really exciting

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<v Speaker 1>to see that experiments from the lab and in the

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<v Speaker 1>wild give the same results. For their study, researchers from

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<v Speaker 1>os U and the University of Texas at Austin traveled

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<v Speaker 1>to Belize in April, where they found a hollow tree

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<v Speaker 1>with a vampire back colony. They blocked every exit from

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<v Speaker 1>the tree but one and used a hand neet to

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<v Speaker 1>cover this exit. The team then captured thirty one female

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<v Speaker 1>vampire bats and injected sixteen of them with a substance

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<v Speaker 1>that made them feel sick but didn't give the bats

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<v Speaker 1>any disease. The substance kicked in after three hours and

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<v Speaker 1>lasted for around six to twelve hours. They injected the

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<v Speaker 1>other roll group of bats was saline as a placebo.

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<v Speaker 1>This didn't make the bats feel sick, but controlled for

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<v Speaker 1>any effects that the act of being injected might have had.

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<v Speaker 1>Then they glued miniature computer sensors to the backs of

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<v Speaker 1>every bat before returning them to their home. Ripeter said,

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<v Speaker 1>the sensors started collecting data on associations all these tiny backpacks.

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<v Speaker 1>They talked to each other, and we know seven who

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<v Speaker 1>has been near whom. A technology like this will help

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<v Speaker 1>researchers get rich data sets and a deeper understanding of

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<v Speaker 1>the consequences such pathogen spreads in populations. For three days,

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<v Speaker 1>researchers tracked the bats movements and social encounters in real

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<v Speaker 1>time during these six hour treatment period, and the scientists

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<v Speaker 1>found the sick bats spent twenty five fewer minutes interacting

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<v Speaker 1>and socialized with four fewer bats than their healthy groupmates

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<v Speaker 1>did during the treatment period. Also, the healthy bats had

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<v Speaker 1>a forty nine chance of associating with a healthy bat,

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<v Speaker 1>while the sick bats only had a thirty five percent

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<v Speaker 1>chance of associating with another sick bat. While the control

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<v Speaker 1>bats normally associated for fifteen minutes an hour, the sick

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<v Speaker 1>and healthy bats only associated for ten minutes each hour.

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<v Speaker 1>A Rippeture said, we saw increased sleep and reduced movements

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<v Speaker 1>in the sick bats. Changes in behavior can really change

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<v Speaker 1>how a pathogen spreads, and that is why health experts

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<v Speaker 1>have advised us to socially distanced during the COVID nineteen pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>Social distancing means keeping a safe space of at least

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<v Speaker 1>six feet or about two meters or two arms length

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<v Speaker 1>between you and people who are not in your household,

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<v Speaker 1>and social distancing can reduce the spread of COVID nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>when then infected person coughs, sneeze, or talks, because the

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<v Speaker 1>odds of a droplet landing in your mouth or nose

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<v Speaker 1>is reduced. If you wear a mask, it helps even more.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article socially distancing when

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<v Speaker 1>ill is natural Just look at pire bats on house

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<v Speaker 1>toworks dot com, written by Francisco Guzman. Brain Stuff is

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