Why Do Cats Almost Always Land on Their Feet — How Do They Turn With Zero Angular Momentum?
Do cats really always land feet-first? The secret of the falling cat, which reorients itself despite zero angular momentum, lies in having a body that is ‘not rigid.’ From Marey’s 1894 chronophotography to angular momentum conservation and the bend-and-twist mechanism, the tail myth that Manx cats disprove, and the unexpected twist in high-rise fall statistics.