[OT] This just in: rats enjoy being tickled

Off-topic, although maybe not from a cat's perspective.

A study on rat laughter:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=626264&page=1

I want to tickle a rat - that's so adorable!

Joyce

--
audiophile, n:
Someone who listens to the equipment instead of the music.

Ya know, the SAD part of this is that this university probably spent over a
million tax dollars to study this instead of educating kids on what's
*really* important. This is how the liberal progressive left wants to spend
your tax dollars in education...


wrote in message
...
Off-topic, although maybe not from a cat's perspective.

A study on rat laughter:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=626264&page=1

I want to tickle a rat - that's so adorable!

Joyce

--
audiophile, n:
Someone who listens to the equipment instead of the music.

Native wrote:
Ya know, the SAD part of this is that this university probably spent over a
million tax dollars to study this instead of educating kids on what's
*really* important. This is how the liberal progressive left wants to spend
your tax dollars in education...

Oh dear, another "tea party" moron! Sometimes I think the American
public is getting what it deserves, what with these idiots and the
Alaska soccer mom. (If things get bad enough, maybe the disappearing
middle class in America will wake up and stage a revolt!)

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
Native wrote:
Ya know, the SAD part of this is that this university probably spent over a
million tax dollars to study this instead of educating kids on what's
*really* important. *This is how the liberal progressive left wants to spend
your tax dollars in education...

Oh dear, another "tea party" moron! *Sometimes I think the American
public is getting what it deserves, what with these idiots and the
Alaska soccer mom. *(If things get bad enough, maybe the disappearing
middle class in America will wake up and stage a revolt!)

I don't know much about the "tea party" aside from the acronym "TEA"
stands for "Taxed Enough Already".... But if you think the idea that
we are already paying enough taxes is moronic, I think you are free to
pay extra taxes if you wish

Native wrote:

A study on rat laughter:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=626264&page=1

Ya know, the SAD part of this is that this university probably spent over a
million tax dollars to study this instead of educating kids on what's
*really* important. This is how the liberal progressive left wants to spend
your tax dollars in education...

WTF? Studying animal behavior is not aligned along liberal/conservative
lines. Anyone can use animal behavior to justify their particular agenda.
Just depends on what you choose to see and how you choose to interpret it.
Personally I choose to believe that laughter transcends politics.

Yeah, yeah, I know, not supposed to feed the trolls. It just makes them
more habituated to humans.

Joyce

--
The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in
the morning feeling just terrible. -- Jean Kerr

Jack Campin wrote:

The odd thing is why they thought it was news now. Panksepp has been
researching this kind of thing for decades:

http://www.psychomedia.it/rapaport-klein/panksepp05.htm

I know - I've been seeing his name cited on these kinds of studies for
a long time. But I thought it would be fun to read.

[snip]

(And virtually all laboratory animal handlers are pet owners).

And how do we know this...?

Joyce

--
The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in
the morning feeling just terrible. -- Jean Kerr

On Apr 18, 3:38*pm, wrote:
Jack Campin wrote:

* The odd thing is why they thought it was news now. *Panksepp has been
* researching this kind of thing for decades:

*http://www.psychomedia.it/rapaport-klein/panksepp05.htm

I know - I've been seeing his name cited on these kinds of studies for
a long time. But I thought it would be fun to read.

*[snip]

* (And virtually all laboratory animal handlers are pet owners).

And how do we know this...?

Joyce

--
The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in
the morning feeling just terrible. * * * * * * * * * * * * -- Jean Kerr

I used to work in various research labs for years with animals .
Didn't own a pet until long after I changed career from that line of
work.
As far as I recall, none of my colleagues back then owned a pet.