Paws-itively The Best Valentine's 🐕‍🦺

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Season 2: Episode 69 Description

In today's episode: ❤️ Valentine’s Day is coming up, which is a day all about love… and do you know what we love? ANIMALS! 🐕‍🦺 Animals are paws-itively the best and Nature Nerds' Laine Farber joins us to tell us why. 🤯 Learn about the most recent medical advancement between animals and humans. And, test your animal knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅

Sources

How Fast Can Hippos Run? - Hippo Haven

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TRANSCRIPT:

Marley  0:03  

It's time for the Ten News Kid Takeover. Valentine's Day is coming up, which is the day all about love. And you know we love animals. I'm Marley, it's Thursday, February 10th and this is the Ten News.

Sound Bit  0:22  

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 

Marley  0:30  

Animals are the best. They make our lives better in so many ways. But, did you know that they can make us feel better? Laine Farber from the Nature Nerds Podcast is here to tell us all about assistance animals.

Laine Farber  0:46  

Have you ever cuddled up to a big fluffy dog and felt all your troubles melt away? Or given chin scritches to a kitty cat who's purring heels your woes? Of course, you have! Scientific studies prove that spending time with our favorite furry pals elevates our mood. In other words, puppy cuddles make you happy? Yes. But did you know that these brain-boosting interactions don't just stop at fuzzy friends? That's right. More unusual critters such as pigs, birds, and even snakes are starting to make waves in the assistance animal scene. Whaaat? But before we get the scoop on these more bizarre beasties, let's review some brain basics. The brain is a complex organ that does so many incredible things like breathing, talking, walking, and feeling emotions. The brain relies on special hormones called neurotransmitters to function properly, neurotransmitters are natural chemicals used to send and receive messages between the brain cells. Too much or too little of these different neurotransmitters can lead to mental health issues. There are a few different neurotransmitters responsible for making us feel happy. These hormones are released in our brain when we do different activities like playing outside, laughing, exercising, holding hands, or even just completing a task. Five. Another great way to release brain-boosting happy hormones is to spend some time with your favorite furry friends. Scientists have long known about the magical mood-boosting properties that certain animals possess. As a result, pet therapy has become a popular practice. pet therapy is beneficial for people suffering from a range of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, as well as physical pain caused by bodily ailments. That's incredible. But what exactly is pet therapy? Well, pet therapy is the general term given to animal-assisted therapy and Animal Assisted Activities. Pet Therapy can look like many different things, including specialized horseback riding, or just the simple act of petting a pooch. But it always includes trained professionals and licensed assistance animals. Now when I say licensed assistance animal, some of you might picture a canine wearing a little coat with the words service dogs at work emblazoned on the site. A very recognizable image. But what would you say if I told you that that little puppy wearing a poncho is not an assistance animal? Yes, service animals and assistance animals are not the same things. A service animal is trained to complete tasks directly related to a person's disability. For example, a seeing-eye dog is trained to act as its owner's eyes by safely guiding them using different signals and alerts. According to the American Disabilities Act, only dogs can serve as service animals. Oh, geez. There's a lot more leniency with assistance animals. assistance animals do not need specialized training. They simply perform work, provide emotional support, or otherwise reduce the symptoms of a person with a disability. It might seem like a small distinction, but it makes a big difference. Okay, the most common emotional support animals are dogs and cats. But in recent years, a few other furry faces have begun to make appearances, including Lelou, the pig who relieves stress from anxious travelers at the San Francisco International Airport. And Travis the llama who gives kisses to the residents of the Nashoba Valley nursing home. And, if the fur isn't your thing. Don't do I have news for you. There are also emotional support ducks, snakes, bearded dragons, peacocks, and many more. Because as scientists and the general public are all learning, even less cuddly critters can help us humans get the sweet, sweet, happy hormones that we crave.

Marley  5:00  

Thanks, Laine! Would you want a llama smooch? Ew! Animals have helped humans with medical advancements for a long time. And recently, something pretty crazy happened. Doctors put a pig's heart into a human patient. And it went really well. How do they do it? Friends of the Ten, Jacob and Olivia Rozencwaig from the Curious Kid Podcast are here with an explanation.

Jacob Rozencwaig  5:33  

The human body is amazing, and every part of the body has its own role. When some parts of the body don't work, right, it could be very serious. In some cases, it could be so serious that a transplant is needed.

Olivia Rozencwaig  5:47  

What does that mean? A transplant is when a sick body part from one person is replaced with a healthy body part from another person.

Jacob Rozencwaig  5:56  

Some of the more commonly transplanted organs are the kidneys, the lungs, the liver, and the heart.

Olivia Rozencwaig  6:04  

The person donating the organ is called the donor. And the person receiving the organ is called the recipient.

Jacob Rozencwaig  6:12  

Matching a donor and recipient is very hard. In order for a donor and recipients to be matched, they need to have testing done to make sure the transplant has a high chance of success. For example, the blood types of the donor and recipients have to be compatible. If a good match isn't found a person could wait on the transplant waiting list for a long time.

Olivia Rozencwaig  6:38  

Today, almost 110,000 people in the United States are waiting for a transplant.

Jacob Rozencwaig  6:47  

Something amazing happened just a few weeks ago that could make it easier for people needing transplants to get much-needed healthy organs in the future.

Olivia Rozencwaig  6:57  

A man in Maryland received a healthy heart, but he didn't get it from another human. He got it from a pig.

Jacob Rozencwaig  7:05  

The 57-year-old man had a very sick heart, and they needed a healthy one urgently. That's when doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center performed the first-ever heart transplant using the heart of a pig.

Olivia Rozencwaig  7:20  

As you might imagine, it's even harder to match a pig to a human for a transplant than it is to match two humans for a transplant.

Jacob Rozencwaig  7:30  

And that's because a recipient’s body will reject a new organ if it realizes that it doesn't belong. pig organs actually have a chemical that human bodies recognized as being foreign. Scientists were able to change the DNA of the pig to prevent that chemical from being made. And to also make the pig's DNA more like human DNA.

Olivia Rozencwaig  7:53  

That's unbelievable. Well, it worked. The transplant was a success. Usually, if the recipient’s body rejects the new organ, it happens within the first day or two after the transplant is performed.

Jacob Rozencwaig  8:08  

And it's been weeks since a man in Maryland had a life-saving transplant from a pig. And that is nothing to snort at!

Marley  8:17  

We're given those doctors 10 out of 10. To learn more cool things from Jacob and Olivia, check them out on the Curious Kid Podcast. And now for... 

Sound Bit  8:31  

What, what, what's the big idea? 

Marley  8:34  

Trivia on the Ten. What if animals competed in the Olympics? That would be epic. Which animal would beat the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt, in a 100-meter sprint? Is it a) a hippo, b) a squirrel, or c) an elephant? Did you guess it? The answer is a) hippo. Hippopotamuses are surprisingly fast. Usain Bolt's top speed is 28 miles per hour, which is still twice as fast as most humans, but a hippo can run 30 miles per hour. Super speedy. Do you want to hear your voice on the show? Share your trivia and tidbits with us or tell us what you want the Ten News to cover. Just visit tennews.com/contact. I did it! And, that's how I got to do this kids takeover. Time's up. But, before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is making Valentine's to give to the animal friends and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard, Adam Barnard, and Tessa Flannery. Laine Farber and Jacob and Olivia Rozencwaig contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Marley and thanks for listening to the Ten News.