Popular Science | Can naked mole rats solve autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia? || EXPERIMENTALS: Moles (part 1) @popularscience | Uploaded March 2019 | Updated October 2024, 6 hours ago.
TWO MOLES. One is a naked mole rat (which, to be fair, isn’t even a mole despite burrowing underground like one). The other is a unit in chemistry used to count really really tiny stuff like atoms and molecules (even mole rats!).
1. THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON NAKED MOLE RATS
In this first mole tale, imagine an eight-by-eight elevator packed with 1,100 people—that’s the level of carbon dioxide a nest full of naked mole rats need in order to survive. But, how can they—or anything—live like that? Well, it’s because of a genetic mutation only two mammals have: them and us (us being humans). The thing is, we both express the mutation differently. If the CO2 breathing mystery in these little hairless wonders is unlocked, it could one day prevent or better treat certain forms of autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. A breakthrough is on the verge at CUNY College of Staten Island in New York, where about 300 naked mole rats live in a Tupperware kingdom.
2. A MORE PERFECT UNIT: THE NEW MOLE
In the second and last act of this story of two moles (follow the link after the video bit.ly/moleparttwo), did you notice the universe change on May 20, 2019? Probably not—but... it did. Because that’s the day the mole unit went from being 6.022×10^23 to 6.02214076×10^23. Those new numbers represent a fundamental shift in the way we measure things—not just on Earth, but throughout space and time. In a sense, a more perfect unit was made. And, as a result, discoveries previously thought impossible are now possible. To show you how, we'll count atoms inside one of the world's most perfectly round spheres at an underground lab in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) outside of Washington, D.C.
TWO MOLES with seemingly nothing in common, right? Look past the obvious and you tell us.
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Episode - Moles (part one)
“ This is your brain on naked mole rats ”
Video by : Tom McNamara
Animation : Jason Drakeford
Magician : Erin Chapman
Online Director : Amy Schellenbaum
Editor-in-Chief : Joe Brown
MEDIA
Audioblocks
Fleischer Superman cartoons (1941-43)
Dr. Lloyd Glenn Ingles, California Academy of Sciences
Internet Archive
“Looking Around” (1952), Wellcome Collection
“Scientists Amazed By the Mole Rat’s Bizarre Behavior” (1984), The New York Times
Library of Congress
Pond5
Shutterstock
Wikimedia Commons
SPECIAL THANKS
300 naked mole rats
CUNY College of Staten Island
CUNY Office of Research
Margherita Sansone
Dr. Dan McCloskey
McCloskey Lab
#molerat #nakedmolerat #autism #epilepsy #schizophrenia #baby #infant #science #brain #biology #seizure #popularscience #popsci #research #new #groundbreaking #mystery #mysteries #sciencemysteries #kidscience #kidsci #animation #animals #weird #weirdanimal #weirdanimals #health #infanthealth #eusocial #gueenmolerat #nakedmoleratqueen #Heterocephalusglaber #cancer #DanMcCloskey #McCloskeyLab #CUNY #StatenIsland #rodents #unusal #genes #Carbondioxide #oxygen
TWO MOLES. One is a naked mole rat (which, to be fair, isn’t even a mole despite burrowing underground like one). The other is a unit in chemistry used to count really really tiny stuff like atoms and molecules (even mole rats!).
1. THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON NAKED MOLE RATS
In this first mole tale, imagine an eight-by-eight elevator packed with 1,100 people—that’s the level of carbon dioxide a nest full of naked mole rats need in order to survive. But, how can they—or anything—live like that? Well, it’s because of a genetic mutation only two mammals have: them and us (us being humans). The thing is, we both express the mutation differently. If the CO2 breathing mystery in these little hairless wonders is unlocked, it could one day prevent or better treat certain forms of autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. A breakthrough is on the verge at CUNY College of Staten Island in New York, where about 300 naked mole rats live in a Tupperware kingdom.
2. A MORE PERFECT UNIT: THE NEW MOLE
In the second and last act of this story of two moles (follow the link after the video bit.ly/moleparttwo), did you notice the universe change on May 20, 2019? Probably not—but... it did. Because that’s the day the mole unit went from being 6.022×10^23 to 6.02214076×10^23. Those new numbers represent a fundamental shift in the way we measure things—not just on Earth, but throughout space and time. In a sense, a more perfect unit was made. And, as a result, discoveries previously thought impossible are now possible. To show you how, we'll count atoms inside one of the world's most perfectly round spheres at an underground lab in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) outside of Washington, D.C.
TWO MOLES with seemingly nothing in common, right? Look past the obvious and you tell us.
***
SUBSCRIBE! for more Popular Science on YouTube ►► youtube.com/popsci?sub_confirmation=1
***
Episode - Moles (part one)
“ This is your brain on naked mole rats ”
Video by : Tom McNamara
Animation : Jason Drakeford
Magician : Erin Chapman
Online Director : Amy Schellenbaum
Editor-in-Chief : Joe Brown
MEDIA
Audioblocks
Fleischer Superman cartoons (1941-43)
Dr. Lloyd Glenn Ingles, California Academy of Sciences
Internet Archive
“Looking Around” (1952), Wellcome Collection
“Scientists Amazed By the Mole Rat’s Bizarre Behavior” (1984), The New York Times
Library of Congress
Pond5
Shutterstock
Wikimedia Commons
SPECIAL THANKS
300 naked mole rats
CUNY College of Staten Island
CUNY Office of Research
Margherita Sansone
Dr. Dan McCloskey
McCloskey Lab
#molerat #nakedmolerat #autism #epilepsy #schizophrenia #baby #infant #science #brain #biology #seizure #popularscience #popsci #research #new #groundbreaking #mystery #mysteries #sciencemysteries #kidscience #kidsci #animation #animals #weird #weirdanimal #weirdanimals #health #infanthealth #eusocial #gueenmolerat #nakedmoleratqueen #Heterocephalusglaber #cancer #DanMcCloskey #McCloskeyLab #CUNY #StatenIsland #rodents #unusal #genes #Carbondioxide #oxygen
