2 days ago · Their evidence suggests new insights into the so-called falling cat problem, particularly that cats have a very flexible segment of their spines that allows them to correct their orientation midair.

1 day ago · For more than a century, scientists have been trying to figure out how a falling cat lands on its feet with such astonishing regularity.

Mar 5, 2026 · When scientists studied the spines of five deceased cats and high-speed video of falling felines, they found that cats rotate their thoracic spine first, then their stiffer lumbar spine, allowing …

3 days ago · Few things in the animal kingdom are as mysteriously graceful as a falling cat. They twist, they rotate, they correct themselves mid-air – and somehow, almost always, they stick the landing. …

1 day ago · After all, cats have never really obeyed the laws of physics in any case, but particularly when it comes to falling and somehow landing perfectly. The rest of this article is behind a paywall.

2 days ago · The study provides evidence supporting the "legs in, legs out" model of how cats fall, while also revealing a right-side bias in the cats' self-righting behavior. Why it matters The "falling cat …

Jul 24, 2023 · At the beginning of the fall, the cat has a velocity of zero, so only the acceleration caused by gravity acts on it, but as v increases, the opposite frictional force then makes itself felt.