Four Point Landings | Science of Stupid

For me, The Perfect Landing follows an excellent inflight movie, a delicious meal, and a light nap. But for cats, The Perfect Landing follows some mindblowing midair acrobatics. They're famous for their ability to land on their feet, which is something we need to work on. Let your feet go!

Cats' legs extend under their bodies, acting as natural shock absorbers. Ours aren't as effective, who, but I think he knows that. [Music] Now how about that? Blew away the cobwebs!

Is a falling cat's ability to always land on its feet a myth, miracle, or a marvel of physics? Well, the law of conservation of angular momentum states that when a cat is falling, turning one part of its body means another part has to turn in the opposite direction.

First, he orientates himself by turning his head, and then he arches his back. Next, he fully twists his front legs whilst his rear turns in the opposite direction. To complete the turn, he twists his rear legs whilst his front turns in the opposite direction. Once again, he arches his back to reduce the force of impact.

Mother Nature gave cats this innate ability to land gracefully to counteract a rather fundamental flaw: they're completely daft! You name it, they'll fall off it. Muffin here has had the excellent idea of jumping on top of the door, nowhere else to go.

Now, what about the door frame? Great landing! In less than a second, Muffin turned his body, saving his neck and his dignity with a perfect four-footed landing. Tabitha has been trying to get the last crisp from the packet. This happened to me last night—mind the edge!

Oh, textbook tumble! Tabitha, even with a bag on her head, instinct kicked in, and she managed to perform the perfect midair pirouette and land safely on her feet. Oh!