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Joy

Neil deGrasse Tyson's touching statement on dogs, joy and mortality is a real tear-jerker

"They are some of the most joyous creatures that live among us."

via Karl Withakay/Wikimedia Commons and Helena Lopes/Pexels

Neil deGrasse Tyson's heartfelt speech on dogs.

Astrophysicist, best-selling author and People Magazine’s “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive,” Neil deGrasse Tyson, has made a long career educating people about the universe and helping us make sense of its seemingly infinite mystery.

But in a recent “Dropouts” podcast interview, Tyson focused on a subject closer to home: man’s best friend, the dog. During the interview, he discussed how dogs have an incredible lust for life that may somehow be tied to an understanding that their time on this Earth is far too short.

He also discussed how a dog's joyous nature is something we should all aspire to because life is far too short for all beings. His words were set to beautiful imagery by the Lunas_Golden_Life Instagram page.

[Video]

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“Every time you come back from wherever you went, your dog is happy, and it’s jumpy, and it wants to lick you in the face. Even if you just went to get the mail from the mailbox, they delight in your return,” Tyson says in the video. “If you wanna take them out on a car ride, they are the first one in the car. They don’t care where it’s going, but they’re there.”

He then put the lifespans of dogs and humans in perspective.

“If they only get one day for every week you’re alive, they make every day count. Their lives have already factored in their mortality,” he continued. “When I look at a dog, I use that as a reminder of how I should live every day of my life.”

He then put the lifespans of dogs and humans in perspective.

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dogs

Pets

This couple woke up one morning realizing they were snuggling a stranger's dog

Honestly, there are worse things to wake up to.

Julie Johnson/Facebook

Nala the dog makes herself at home.

How many of us have woken up next to someone and thought, "Who is that, and how did they get here?" Recently, a woman named Julie Johnson had that "how did they get here?" moment, but it was a little different … there wasn't a strange person in her bed, it was a strange dog. (Some might argue this is a much better option.) Johnson and her husband Jimmy woke up spooning a dog that wasn't theirs, and they understandably had no idea where the comfy pooch had come from!

"It is absolutely normal to wake up in our house with one of OUR dogs in the bed with us," Johnson wrote in a Facebook post. "One small problem, THIS IS NOT OUR DOG, nor do we know how she got in our house." Again, there are worse problems to have, but waking up to a strange dog in your bed is definitely cause for concern.

Obviously the pup in her bed posed no real threat, as it was sleeping contentedly between the couple. A dog who wasn't comfortable with people wouldn't lay on your pillows like, "Don't mind if I do," that's for sure. If a dog suddenly turned up in your bed though, you'd have to ask yourself, "Where did it come from?" Which is why Julie Johnson turned to Facebook to do some detective work. If anyone can find information quickly in a very slick way, it's the fine people of the internet.

"This is the weirdest post I have ever had to make. Is this your dog? ," she wrote on the post.

Now for the question that's probably on everyone's mind: How did they not notice a strange dog climbing into bed with them? Well, the Johnsons already have three dogs. When you already have a pet in the bed, feeling an animal in your bed isn't going to feel particularly off.

"At first, we thought it was one of ours, but they rarely lay on the pillows! In pitch darkness, I just assumed it was. Wouldn’t we all? As daylight began to creep in through our curtains we realized we were snuggling with someone else’s dog."

Johnson told multiple news outlets that her dogs usually bark at anything and everything, but they didn't bark at the intruder pup. Clearly, they saw the interloper as a friend, not a foe.

Thankfully, Julie Johnson's Facebook post got spread far enough, and they were able to locate the pup's owners. "PUPDATE: Her name is Nala and her mom is on the way to get her. Good luck getting her out of my bed mam," Johnson amended her original post.

Nala's mom, Cris Hawkins, made her own Facebook post, telling of Nala's nighttime exploits.

"Our overly friendly pup, Nala, has hit an all time record for ignoring personal space and added yet another trick to her long list of houdini acts," she wrote. She slipped her collar yesterday while being walked, ran down the street to a neighbors house, somehow managed to get IN their house, and climbed into bed with them in the middle of the night. Side note: They live quite a few houses down so I'm using the term 'neighbor' loosely."

Puppy playdate.

Julie Johnson/Facebook

Nala is back home with her moms, and both Johnson and Hawkins have been sharing the ways her story has spread. Recently, Nala and her moms got to go back to the Johnson house, but this time they were invited for a playdate! Johnson shared the video, saying "We also had a long talk to the four of them about asking permission before spend the night parties commence!"

Here's to a new lifelong friendship!

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Innovation

Researchers have come up with a more accurate way to calculate your dog's age

Photo by Bharathi Kannan on Unsplash

The age-old wisdom holds that a dog ages seven years for every single human year. Well, it turns out the age-old wisdom has some catching up to do. That's because scientists are now claiming that the way dogs actually age is more complex than we humans have previously thought.

Researchers at the University of California now claim that dogs rapidly age in their first two years of existence, quickly evolving from puppies to the equivalent of human middle age. They then experience a rapid slowing of the aging process in their DNA until much later in life.

Photo by Bharathi Kannan on

It would be the equivalent of going from our mid-teens to age 40 almost overnight and then staying there for the next 35 or so years of our lives before our DNA began to rapidly deteriorate as our body prepared for death. From the Smithsonian:

"According to the formula, a 2-year-old dog is the equivalent of a 42-year-old human, but things slow down after that. A 5-year-old dog is the equivalent of a 56.75 year old human, and a 10-year-old dog is the equivalent of 67.8-year-old person."

It turns out the old 7 dogs years to 1 human year calculation was debunked by scientists several years ago. In fact, no one really knows where it originates from. They just know there's no real science behind it.

Related: A blind man in a Facebook group asked people to describe their dogs and it's the sweetest post ever

Photo by ipet photo on

However, in some ways, the old seven-year-measurement isn't that far off, according to the new research. That's because of the DNA of the labradors in the study showed the equivalent of a 68-year-old's DNA by the time they were 10. So, in some ways, the folksy wisdom that's held true for ages is pretty much aligned with cutting edge research.

From the Smithsonian: "[T]he comparison breaks down after early puppyhood. The dog clock ticks much faster with pups speeding through puberty and reaching sexual maturity within their first year. Then, the dog's epigenetic clock slows down as the dog ages, and begins to match up with humans again in its later years. Overall, the average 12-year lifespan of a Labrador lined up with the average worldwide lifespan of humans, which is about 70 years."

Photo by Lydia Torrey on

If you really want to figure out how old your beloved dog is, the Smithsonian has incorporated the University of California research into a calculator. Although veterinarians and other scientists point out that dog breeds, sizes and general health factors all have a significant impact on dog's life span.

But there's good news there, too. The University of California study is far from the only project looking into dog aging and health. A major project led by the University of Washington called the "Dog Aging Project" is looking not only into dog health issues but how to eventually increase a dog's overall lifespan. Because most of us can agree that the only correct answer to the question "how long will my dog live?" is "Forever."

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A stunning photo project shows how dogs age through the years ... ›

A stunning photo project shows how dogs age through the years.

For many people, dogs are so much more than just a pet.

Dogs can be an integral part of life. They're loyal companions who, just like everyone else in the family, are there for the big moments and the little ones — like the birth of a baby or moving to a new home, or the first time you got grounded or binge-watched the last season of "Breaking Bad." They bring joy and support to our lives every day. It's easy to see why they've held the title of "man's (and woman's!) best friend" for ... pretty much ever.

Oh my dog! That is precious. GIF via Canal de MASQUENADAmx/YouTube.

That's the experience Massachusetts-based photographer Amanda Jones had with her long-haired Dachshund, Lily. Jones was inspired to adopt Lily after a photoshoot she did with the breed.

Lily brought 16 wonderful years of energy and love to her family, and Jones was there to capture it all. When Lily passed away, Jones made a memorial card to honor how much she had grown and changed over her lifetime, from a spunky little puppy to a well-loved, experienced senior.

Lily at 8 months, 2 years, 7 years, and 15 years old:

All images from "Dog Years: Faithful Friends, Then & Now" by Amanda Jones, published by Chronicle Books, used with permission.

The visual look at Lily's life gave Jones a bigger idea.

"If I have these photos of Lily, I could probably go back and find some other dogs I've taken photos of in the past and do the same," she recounted to Upworthy over the phone.

As a photographer for 20 years, she knew she had a huge database to work with. So she started following up with some clients from previous dog photoshoots, and turned her idea into a book called "Dog Years."

In "Dog Years," Jones shares photographs of 30 dogs in black-and-white at different points in their lives.

"The visual impact of comparing the young and the old varies greatly from dog to dog, just as it does from person to person," Jones says in the book.

She's so right.

Abigaile at 4 months and at 8 years old:

Fred at 3 years and 10 years old:

Audrey at 3 years and 12 years old:

You won't find any props or cutesy backdrops in her photos. Jones focuses on pulling out the dog's personality instead.

"A dog’s life starts off small and then grows to include many different humans, other dogs, new tricks, and new experiences," she said.

Cooper at 3 years and 10 years old:

Some dogs don’t seem to age, yet others show the signs quite openly.

Maddy at 5 years and 10 years old:

"Maddy actually turned completely gray and wasn't even that old. She had been treated for cancer, and the drugs turned her coat completely gray."

On that same note, Jones said, she photographed a Yorkie that didn't make it into the book "because she looked the same at 12 years old as she looked at 1."

"The easiest part of working with dogs is they don’t look at their photos and say, 'Oh my God, I look awful! Do I really have that many wrinkles?'"

It may be hard to get dogs to sit still and take a picture, but there is one distinct advantage of taking photos of dogs instead of people: They don't hold themselves to unrealistic standards the way humans do. Which means they're never self-conscious subjects, and don't know Photoshop even exists. (And even if they did... they probably wouldn't care).

"The easiest part of working with dogs is they don’t look at their photos and say, 'Oh my God, I look awful! Do I really have that many wrinkles?'" Jones said.

Visualizing the timeline of a dog's life is as beautiful as it is bittersweet.

Looking at these photos can bring out strong feelings and personal reflection on the dogs we've encountered in our lives, whether or not they were part of our families. There's a really profound connection between humans and our dogs, and Jones captures it in a very real and touching way.

For a behind-the-scenes look at how she created "Dog Years," watch this video:

From Your Site Articles

dog years

Neil deGrasse Tyson's touching statement on dogs, joy and mortality is a real tear-jerker

"They are some of the most joyous creatures that live among us."

This couple woke up one morning realizing they were snuggling a stranger's dog

Honestly, there are worse things to wake up to.

Related: A blind man in a Facebook group asked people to describe their dogs and it's the sweetest post ever

A stunning photo project shows how dogs age through the years.

For many people, dogs are so much more than just a pet.

In "Dog Years," Jones shares photographs of 30 dogs in black-and-white at different points in their lives.

Visualizing the timeline of a dog's life is as beautiful as it is bittersweet.

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