It takes backbone to solve an enigma like the “falling cat” problem. By Taylor Mitchell Brown In 1894, the French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey tried to resolve a particularly vexing question in ...

Where would physics be without cats? No Schrödinger’s thought experiment; no FDC Willard; no Cheshire cat effect in quantum realm; really, the entire discipline would be reduced. But cats without ...

The saying goes, “cats always land on their feet.” Scientists have investigated the physics of falling cats since at least 1700, and a team of researchers has recently furthered the topic with a study ...

Why do falling cats always seem to land on their feet? Scientists have been arguing about the precise mechanism for a very long time—since at least 1700, in fact—conducting all manner of experiments ...

When falling cats turn themselves the right way up before they hit the ground, they have a secret trick: a region of their spine that is exceptional at twisting. “We compared the flexibility of the ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

The secret to this acrobatic skill lies in an extremely flexible part of the spine that allows cats to twist in the air and land safely. It's well established that when cats fall, they're able to land ...

When cats fall, they usually land on their feet. This uncanny ability to right themselves before hitting the ground has long puzzled scientists. Now, a team from Yamaguchi University in Japan has the ...

In 1894, French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey tried to resolve a particularly vexing question in science: How do cats always seem to land on their feet when they fall? Using the era’s rudimentary ...