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Falling Cats: using physics to resolve an apparent biological paradox

Falling Cats: using physics to resolve an apparent biological paradox. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nebarnix/322854875/ Some rights reserved: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/. Cats who fall >7 stories survive…. Better than humans who fall the same distance; and

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Falling Cats: using physics to resolve an apparent biological paradox

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  1. Falling Cats: using physics to resolve an apparent biological paradox http://www.flickr.com/photos/nebarnix/322854875/Some rights reserved: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

  2. Cats who fall >7 stories survive… • Better than humans who fall the same distance; and • Better than cats falling <7 stories! WHY? Diamond, J. 1989. How cats survive falls from New York skyscrapers. Natural History 98:20-26 Data are based on veterinary records of accidental falls - not deliberate defenestration of felines.

  3. Explanation = physics: • How hard you hit depends on how fast you are going…which depends on • (a) your mass, and g; • (b) how long you have been accelerating and • (c) your maximum possible falling speed (a.k.a. terminal velocity). • terminal velocity is lower for cats; they reach it sooner; and once they do, they adjust their behavior.

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