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Editorial

Rats: Holiday spirit, in rodent form

  December 12, 2011

During the holidays, if kids become brats, you can shout with a straight face, “Start acting like rats!’’ In a study in the journal Science, University of Chicago researchers discovered previously-unknown empathy in lab rats, at levels difficult for primates. Free rats sensed distress in caged rats and worked tirelessly to free the latter. When chocolate chips were added to the experiment, the free rat did not selfishly gobble them up and let the caged rat languish.

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