Altruism Facts

Vampire bats adopt orphans, and are one of the few mammals known to risk their own lives to share food with less fortunate roost-mates.

Squirrels will sometimes adopt orphaned baby squirrels that they’re related to.

If a vampire bat goes 2 days without drinking blood, they can die. However, well fed female bats will puke up blood and share it with other bats that they like in exchange for grooming.

The inventor of the lithium-ion battery gave away his patent for free, refusing to profit from a technology that could help the planet.

In 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the frozen Potomac River in Washington. A rescue helicopter lowered a lifeline to the survivors clinging to the wreck. Passenger Arland Williams caught it and handed it to the stranger beside him. He did it again and again, each time to someone else. When the helicopter came back for him, he had slipped beneath the water. The bridge the plane struck now bears his name.

At 14, James Harrison nearly died during lung surgery and was saved by strangers' blood. He kept his promise to pay it back for 60 years, donating plasma 1,173 times. His rare anti-D antibodies created a treatment given during pregnancy that saved his own daughter's babies, and the Man with the Golden Arm saved 2.4 million Australian newborns over his lifetime.