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Cat Righting Reflex
The cat righting reflex is a cat's innate ability to orient itself as it falls in order to land on its feet. The righting reflex begins to appear at 3–4 weeks of age, and is perfected at 6–9 weeks. Cats are able to do this because they have an unusually flexible backbone and no functional clavicle (collarbone). The tail seems to help but cats without a tail also have this ability, since a cat mostly turns by moving its legs and twisting its spine in a certain sequence. Technique [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falling Cat 1894
Falling or fallin' may refer to: *Falling (physics), movement due to gravity *Falling (accident) * Falling (execution) * Falling (sensation) People *Christine Falling (born 1963), American serial killer who murdered six children Books * ''Falling'' (Provoost novel), a 1994 novel by Anne Provoost * ''Falling'' (Howard novel), a 1999 novel by Elizabeth Jane Howard *"Falling", a 1967 poem by James Dickey Film and television * ''Falling'' (2008 film), a film by Richard Dutcher * ''Falling'' (2015 film), starring Adesua Etomi and Blossom Chukwujekwu * ''Falling'' (2020 film), an American-British-Canadian drama film * ''The Falling'' (1987 film), an American film by Deran Sarafian * ''The Falling'' (2014 film), a British film by Carol Morley *''Falling'' (Dutch: ''Vallen''), a 2001 film by Hans Herbots based on the novel by Anne Provoost *''Falling'', a 2005 ITV adaptation of the novel by Elizabeth Jane Howard *"Falling", an episode of the Adult Swim television series ''Off the Ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High-rise Syndrome
High-rise syndrome is a veterinary term for injuries sustained by a cat falling from a building, typically higher than two stories (). Injuries sustained by cats falling Common injuries sustained in cats after a fall include: * Broken bones, most likely the jawbone as the cat's chin hits the ground; a broken jawbone and damaged or shattered teeth are the typical signs of a cat having sustained injuries in a fall. * Injuries to the legs: joint injury; ruptured tendons; ligament injury; broken legs. * Internal injuries, especially to the lungs Studies done of cats that have fallen from 2 to 32 stories, and are still alive when brought to a veterinarian clinic, show that the overall survival rate is 90 percent of those treated. In a study performed in 1987 it was reported that cats who fall from less than six stories, and are still alive, have greater injuries than cats who fall from higher than six stories. It has been proposed that this might happen because cats reach termina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cat Behavior
Cat behavior includes body language, elimination habits, aggression, play, communication, hunting, grooming, urine marking, and face rubbing. It varies among individuals, colonies, and breeds. Communication and sociability can vary greatly among individual cats. In a family with many cats, the interactions can change depending on which individuals are present and how restricted the territory and resources are. One or more individuals may become aggressive: fighting may occur with the attack resulting in scratches and deep bite wounds. Communication Kittens vocalize early in development. Some examples of different vocalizations are described below. * Purring - means that the cat is either content or is self-soothing due to fear * Meow - a frequently used greeting. A mother meows when interacting with her young. * Hissing or spitting - indicates an angry or defensive cat. * Yowl - means that the cat is in distress or feeling aggressive. * Chattering - occurs when hunt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature (journal)
''Nature'' is a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England. As a multidisciplinary publication, ''Nature'' features peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and technology. It has core editorial offices across the United States, continental Europe, and Asia under the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature. ''Nature'' was one of the world's most cited scientific journals by the Science Edition of the 2019 '' Journal Citation Reports'' (with an ascribed impact factor of 42.778), making it one of the world's most-read and most prestigious academic journals. , it claimed an online readership of about three million unique readers per month. Founded in autumn 1869, ''Nature'' was first circulated by Norman Lockyer and Alexander Macmillan as a public forum for scientific innovations. The mid-20th century facilitated an editorial expansion for the journal; ''Nature'' redoubled its efforts in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buttered Toast Phenomenon
The buttered toast phenomenon is an observation that buttered toast tends to land butter-side down after it falls. It is used as an idiom representing pessimistic outlooks. Various people have attempted to determine whether there is an actual tendency for bread to fall in this fashion, with varying results. Origins The phenomenon is said to be an old proverb from "the north country". Written accounts can be traced to the mid-19th century. The phenomenon is often attributed to a parodic poem of James Payn from 1884: In the past, this has often been considered just a pessimistic belief. A 1991 study by the BBC's television series '' Q.E.D.'' found that when toast is tossed into the air, it lands butter-side down just one-half of the time (as would be predicted by chance). However, several scientific studies have found that when toast is dropped from a table (as opposed to being thrown in the air), it more often falls butter-side down. A study on this subject by Robert Matthews ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buttered Cat Paradox
The buttered cat paradox is a common joke based on the combination of two adages: * Cats always land on their feet. * Buttered toast always lands buttered side down. The paradox arises when one considers what would happen if one attached a piece of buttered toast (butter side up) to the back of a cat, then dropped the cat from a large height. The buttered cat paradox, submitted by artist John Frazee of Kingston, New York, won a 1993 '' Omni'' magazine competition about paradoxes. The basic premise, stating the conditions of the cat and bread and posed as a question, was presented in a routine by comic and juggler Michael Davis, appearing on ''The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'', July 22, 1988. Thought experiments Some people jokingly maintain that the experiment will produce an anti-gravity effect. They propose that as the cat falls towards the ground, it will slow down and start to rotate, eventually reaching a steady state of hovering a short distance from the ground wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High-rise Syndrome
High-rise syndrome is a veterinary term for injuries sustained by a cat falling from a building, typically higher than two stories (). Injuries sustained by cats falling Common injuries sustained in cats after a fall include: * Broken bones, most likely the jawbone as the cat's chin hits the ground; a broken jawbone and damaged or shattered teeth are the typical signs of a cat having sustained injuries in a fall. * Injuries to the legs: joint injury; ruptured tendons; ligament injury; broken legs. * Internal injuries, especially to the lungs Studies done of cats that have fallen from 2 to 32 stories, and are still alive when brought to a veterinarian clinic, show that the overall survival rate is 90 percent of those treated. In a study performed in 1987 it was reported that cats who fall from less than six stories, and are still alive, have greater injuries than cats who fall from higher than six stories. It has been proposed that this might happen because cats reach termina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falling Cat Problem
The falling cat problem is a problem that consists of explaining the underlying physics behind the observation of the cat righting reflex. Although amusing and trivial to pose, the solution of the problem is not as straightforward as its statement would suggest. The apparent contradiction with the law of conservation of angular momentum is resolved because the cat is not a rigid body, but instead is permitted to change its shape during the fall owing to the cat's flexible backbone and non-functional collar-bone. The behavior of the cat is thus typical of the mechanics of deformable bodies. Several explanations have been proposed for this phenomenon since the late 19th century: * Cats rely on conservation of angular momentum. * The rotation angle of the front body is larger than that of the rear body. * The dynamics of the falling cat have been explained using the Udwadia–Kalaba equation. History The falling cat problem has elicited interest from scientists including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Survivorship Bias
Survivorship bias or survival bias is the logical error of concentrating on entities that passed a selection process while overlooking those that did not. This can lead to incorrect conclusions because of incomplete data. Survivorship bias is a form of selection bias that can lead to overly optimistic beliefs because multiple failures are overlooked, such as when companies that no longer exist are excluded from analyses of financial performance. It can also lead to the false belief that the successes in a group have some special property, rather than just coincidence as in correlation "proves" causality. Another kind of survivorship bias would involve thinking that an incident was not all that dangerous because the only people who were involved in the incident who can speak about it are those who survived it. Even if one knew that some people are dead, they would not have their voice to add to the conversation, leading to bias in the conversation. As a general experimental ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drag (physics)
In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fluid. This can exist between two fluid layers (or surfaces) or between a fluid and a solid surface. Unlike other resistive forces, such as dry friction, which are nearly independent of velocity, the drag force depends on velocity. Drag force is proportional to the velocity for low-speed flow and the squared velocity for high speed flow, where the distinction between low and high speed is measured by the Reynolds number. Even though the ultimate cause of drag is viscous friction, turbulent drag is independent of viscosity. Drag forces always tend to decrease fluid velocity relative to the solid object in the fluid's path. Examples Examples of drag include the component of the net aerodynamic or hydrodynamic force acting opposite to the d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Straight Dope
"The Straight Dope" was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 1973 in the ''Chicago Reader'' as well as in print syndication nationally in the United States, and on a website with the same name. On more than one occasion, the authors (i.e. Cecil Adams) were forced to retract or modify an answer when confronted by the readers. Following the column of June 27, 2018, the "Straight Dope" column was placed on hiatus, with no decision made regarding its future. The website and associated forum continue to be active. Chicago's public radio station, WBEZ, has purchased Sun-Times Media (STM), which owns the Straight Dope, including the SDMB. Name and tagline The column derives its name from the American idiom meaning roughly "the true information; the full story" and covers many subjects, including history, scienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Medical Center Of New York
The Animal Medical Center of New York is a non profit animal hospital in New York City. History The center began in 1906 when Ellin Prince Speyer founded the "Women's Auxiliary to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals". The first major activity organized was the Work Horse Parade held on Memorial Day in 1907 in New York City. In 1909 the Women's Auxiliary decided to establish a dispensary and out-patient clinic for all animals whose owners could not afford to pay for medical treatment. The clinic opened in 1910 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Veterinarians volunteered their services on a part-time basis. The clinic treated 6,028 animals in the first full year. On May 12, 1910, the Women's Auxiliary separated from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and they incorporated themselves as the "New York Women's League for Animals". The "Hospital of the New York Women's League for Animals" was established in 1914 at 350 Lafayette Street in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
