We have all heard about how much humans enjoy partying and music, but it seems animals have joined the club too. An experiment revealed that rats enjoy music and love to groove to it. This ability appears to be no longer limited to humans; the animal kingdom is now ready to party with humans.

Animals and Music

Well, there have been speculations that animals can understand music and respond to it. And rats are the most recent animal to join the party. It’s been observed that rats bounce their heads to the beat of the music. It was discovered that the brain’s time constant determines the ideal tempo for bopping along. Research suggests that certain animals can be taught how to react to music or even produce sounds that appear to be rhythmic, like an alarm call.

The Experiment

An experiment was designed to test these theories with the help of accelerometers. Humans were asked to put them on over their headphones, while the rats wore them directly. Researchers played Mozart at four different tempos: 75, 100, 200, and 400 percent of the initial speed, respectively, for approximately 60 seconds. The results revealed that the rats’ head bopping was most accurate between 120 and 140 beats per minute, which is the average beat rate for Mozart’s “Sonata for Two Pianos” in D Major. The researchers also found that the rats, as well as humans both, jerked their heads in a similar pattern and that the intensity of head jerking decreased as the sonata’s tempo increased. During the second experiment, songs by famous singers like Lady Gaga and Maroon 5 were played to observe the reaction.

Conclusions

According to Hirokazu Takahashi, an associate professor at the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, rats are believed to have one of the best beat synchronizations without any training. The researchers concluded that the theory, in which the time constant of the brain is the factor, is more accurate than the others.

Have you ever wondered what outer space smells like? Well, thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, you may be able to find out for yourself soon enough.

The Smell Of Space

Considering that outer space has no atmosphere, you’d probably think that it doesn’t really smell of anything up there. However, according to astronauts, there is a scent to be found millions of miles above the planet. Familiar fragrances like “seared steak” and “raspberries” have been mentioned before, a combination that sounds a lot more inviting than you might have imagined. You don’t have to just take the astronauts’ word for it, though, because a new perfume is being created to share the smell of space with the world.

From NASA To Kickstarter

The scent of outer space is something that’s been of interest to NASA for a long time. Back in 2008, they enlisted a chemist, Steven Pearce, to help recreate the smell for future astronauts. They wanted people to know what to expect before launching into space, so a formula was developed to aid with that. This information was initially kept private, but now, thanks to some Freedom of Information Acts, it’s no longer a secret.

A Successful Investment

Since the Kickstarter project began, more than $600,000 dollars has been pledged to it. According to the site, people who contributed money can expect to receive their product by October 2020. It’s been developed with the help of various fashion, tech, and design experts, all of whom have been passionate about sharing this unique scent with the world. They’ve worked hard to bring Eau de Space to life, and it won’t be long now until people get to wear it wherever they go.

Whether or not people will take to the smell of space is yet to be seen. However, if the perfume is a success, it could become the next big thing on the market.