Somewhere along the way, “rat” became the operative term for a double-crossing, backstabbing person who betrays their friends. But in reality, rats — the cheese-loving kind — won’t hesitate to help a fellow rat in dire straits.
In a new study, researchers placed two rats in a cage divided in half by a wall with a small door. On one side of the wall, a rat sat high and dry. But on the other side, a second rat was soaked and left to sit in a pool of water; rats hate getting wet. When the dry rat noticed the distressed and drenched cage mate, the dry rat consistently opened the door to liberate the comrade. Researchers say their findings suggest that rats may experience empathy.
