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How do cats survive falls from great heights?
- maeon3 15y agoIf you drop an ant or a pea sized model car off a building it won't even suffer any damage hitting the ground, if you throw an elephant or a full sized train off a building, it will be pancaked or explode into pieces. The strength of a bone increases with its circumference, but its mass increases with its volume. The volume increases incur expenses in inertia far more quickly than circumference incurs gains in strength.
- smackay 15y agoThe following description (from a BBC documentary I think but I can't find the source) sums it nicely: If you dropped a mouse down a mineshaft it would bounce then scuttle away into the darkness, a man would be killed and a horse would splash.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- slamdunc 15y agoThis reminds me of one of the first RadioLab shows I ever heard, called simply "Falling". http://www.radiolab.org/2010/sep/20/ http://www.radiolab.org/2010/sep/20/ Here's their synopsis: There are so many ways to fall—in love, asleep, even flat on your face. This hour, Radiolab dives into stories of great falls. We jump into a black hole, take a trip over Niagara Falls, upend some myths about falling cats, and plunge into our favorite songs about falling. Such a great episode, and great show - I recommend both to everyone.