Canine Weightlessness Research.
February 27, 2007 3:54 AM Subscribe
The effects of weightlessness are most associated with astronauts, but a more practical application can be seen in this dog.
Finally! Something for the Dog People! (All these cat pic posts were getting on my nerves)
"IM IN UR PLANE DEFYIN TEH LAW OF GRABITY!"
posted by wendell at 4:09 AM on February 27, 2007 [2 favorites]
"IM IN UR PLANE DEFYIN TEH LAW OF GRABITY!"
posted by wendell at 4:09 AM on February 27, 2007 [2 favorites]
Weightless dog? OK. That's fine. But here's Giant Spider Dog. So there you go.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:38 AM on February 27, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:38 AM on February 27, 2007 [2 favorites]
I have watched that weightless dog video four times now and can't stop laughing. Poor dog, kinda, but what a feeling it must have been. I like to think they have a nice soft mattress bolted down for it.
posted by mediareport at 5:13 AM on February 27, 2007
posted by mediareport at 5:13 AM on February 27, 2007
(Hey, grapefruitmoon, did you intend two of your links to go to the same content at different sites? I only ask because it's interesting content, and if you had more I'd want to see it :)
posted by mediareport at 5:18 AM on February 27, 2007
posted by mediareport at 5:18 AM on February 27, 2007
What's the point to that kind of comment, delmoi? Honestly, why even bother to say anything?
posted by mediareport at 5:35 AM on February 27, 2007 [7 favorites]
posted by mediareport at 5:35 AM on February 27, 2007 [7 favorites]
mediareport: Erm. Not really. It looked like different content to me, but I was blinded by the glory of the dachshund. So, uh, no, I've got nothin'.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:39 AM on February 27, 2007
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:39 AM on February 27, 2007
The wieghtless dog is totally weird. The dog stays quiet, the humans make no reaction. Weight returns, dog falls, making no noise. Humans appear unconcerned for the dog's welfare.
Me, I want to see a cat in zero-G. Especially after that cat has had a chance to get used to it. I think a cat would love it.
posted by Goofyy at 5:46 AM on February 27, 2007
Me, I want to see a cat in zero-G. Especially after that cat has had a chance to get used to it. I think a cat would love it.
posted by Goofyy at 5:46 AM on February 27, 2007
A cat would hate it. Cats are control freaks.
I could swear that video used to have the dogs ears rising and then lowering, but I must be thinking of something else.
posted by DU at 5:54 AM on February 27, 2007
I could swear that video used to have the dogs ears rising and then lowering, but I must be thinking of something else.
posted by DU at 5:54 AM on February 27, 2007
Once cat unerstood the conditions, I think it would quickly learn to fly between one grab and the next. I'd place ample amounts of suitable material on the walls (and any other surface) for the cat's claws to hang on. Would be especially amusing if could introduce a bird to the scene. Picture joy of cat flying to intercept bird. bwahaha.
posted by Goofyy at 6:03 AM on February 27, 2007
posted by Goofyy at 6:03 AM on February 27, 2007
Looks like he lands kind of hard, upside down. Ouch.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 6:16 AM on February 27, 2007
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 6:16 AM on February 27, 2007
No footage of the owner scraping half-digested kibble from the walls and windows after landing, however...
posted by Dizzy at 7:03 AM on February 27, 2007
posted by Dizzy at 7:03 AM on February 27, 2007
I'm with you DU. I've seen another segment of this like you've described and it's somehow cuter.
posted by sourwookie at 7:10 AM on February 27, 2007
posted by sourwookie at 7:10 AM on February 27, 2007
This is the highest and best use of the internet.
And no, I'm not being sarcastic.
Thanks!
posted by Muddler at 7:10 AM on February 27, 2007
And no, I'm not being sarcastic.
Thanks!
posted by Muddler at 7:10 AM on February 27, 2007
Strong with this one, the gForce is.
Always wanted to fly a parabola but could only afford one.
posted by hal9k at 7:17 AM on February 27, 2007
Always wanted to fly a parabola but could only afford one.
posted by hal9k at 7:17 AM on February 27, 2007
I think a cat would love it.
Not so much.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 7:55 AM on February 27, 2007 [2 favorites]
Not so much.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 7:55 AM on February 27, 2007 [2 favorites]
From the third link:
Astronauts on the orbiting space shuttle are weightless because...
a) there is no gravity in space and they do not weigh anything.
b) space is a vacuum and there is no gravity in a vacuum.
c) space is a vacuum and there is no air resistance in a vacuum.
d) the astronauts are far from earth's surface at a location where gravitation has a minimal effect.
This is what passes for high school science today?
Orbiting astronauts are NOT weightless, at 200+ miles above the planet surface, gravity still exerts one hell of a pull. Astronauts just appear to be weightless because they and the craft they are in are following the trajectory of orbital motion (i.e., the are both "falling" - not unlike the occupants of an airplane making parabolic dives.)
I suppose this is true for dogs too, but I am skeptical about cats. If anything can defy gravity, it would be cats.
posted by three blind mice at 8:21 AM on February 27, 2007
Astronauts on the orbiting space shuttle are weightless because...
a) there is no gravity in space and they do not weigh anything.
b) space is a vacuum and there is no gravity in a vacuum.
c) space is a vacuum and there is no air resistance in a vacuum.
d) the astronauts are far from earth's surface at a location where gravitation has a minimal effect.
This is what passes for high school science today?
Orbiting astronauts are NOT weightless, at 200+ miles above the planet surface, gravity still exerts one hell of a pull. Astronauts just appear to be weightless because they and the craft they are in are following the trajectory of orbital motion (i.e., the are both "falling" - not unlike the occupants of an airplane making parabolic dives.)
I suppose this is true for dogs too, but I am skeptical about cats. If anything can defy gravity, it would be cats.
posted by three blind mice at 8:21 AM on February 27, 2007
And stupid me! I just took the test only to find out that:
If you believe in any one of the above statements, then it might take a little rearrangement and remapping of your brain cells to understand the real cause of weightlessness. So let go of those stubborn little preconceptions which we all have about the world as you consider the reasonableness of the following alternative conceptions.
*goes off to remap brain cells*
posted by three blind mice at 8:25 AM on February 27, 2007
If you believe in any one of the above statements, then it might take a little rearrangement and remapping of your brain cells to understand the real cause of weightlessness. So let go of those stubborn little preconceptions which we all have about the world as you consider the reasonableness of the following alternative conceptions.
*goes off to remap brain cells*
posted by three blind mice at 8:25 AM on February 27, 2007
Not so much.
Well, for fucks sake, that guy's throwing it at the wall! Not a very scientific test of a cat's reaction, if you ask me.
posted by Citizen Premier at 9:42 AM on February 27, 2007
Well, for fucks sake, that guy's throwing it at the wall! Not a very scientific test of a cat's reaction, if you ask me.
posted by Citizen Premier at 9:42 AM on February 27, 2007
I did that once in a Cessna 150. Problem was I forgot about the box full of wrenches that was in the luggage compartment. Those wrenches sure made one hell of a crash after they stopped floating around back there.
posted by smoothvirus at 10:00 AM on February 27, 2007
posted by smoothvirus at 10:00 AM on February 27, 2007
Oh hell. When can we get IMG tag back? Please please please?
http://content.ytmnd.com/content/6/3/3/633c881f6336f682179d69ecb400226e.gif
posted by cavalier at 10:27 AM on February 27, 2007
that guy's throwing it at the wall
I think the idea was to se if the cat would learn to use it's claws to cling to the soft padded wall - however, it's falling instinct kicked in and it kept spinning like it had buttered toast tied to it's back.
posted by CynicalKnight at 11:00 AM on February 27, 2007
I think the idea was to se if the cat would learn to use it's claws to cling to the soft padded wall - however, it's falling instinct kicked in and it kept spinning like it had buttered toast tied to it's back.
posted by CynicalKnight at 11:00 AM on February 27, 2007
The poor cat keeps trying to pull this maneuver but gets messed up by the fact that he never actually begins to fall. Whereas the dog has no natural reflexes when he encounters freefall.
But the cat video is pretty funny.
posted by GuyZero at 12:16 PM on February 27, 2007
But the cat video is pretty funny.
posted by GuyZero at 12:16 PM on February 27, 2007
The dog seems perfectly happy to be weightless. "Whatever". The cat now ... that is one freaked out cat.
posted by Bovine Love at 12:23 PM on February 27, 2007
posted by Bovine Love at 12:23 PM on February 27, 2007
That poor cat keeps trying to rotate itself and figure out which direction is down.
I keep wanting to tell it "The gate is down!"
posted by ntartifex at 1:18 PM on February 27, 2007
I keep wanting to tell it "The gate is down!"
posted by ntartifex at 1:18 PM on February 27, 2007
I saw a dog in a car once. For reasons known only to itself and god it had it's head out of the window, face into the wind. And seemed to all the world quite content with this state of affairs. So you can understand that I was glad the windows on the light aircraft were closed, I was in serious fear the poor sweet little fucker was going to float right out of it.
Perhaps dog's faces are a little unexpresive, but s/he seriously didn't seem to give a shit. Kinda like s/he was thinking: "Weightless..? Pah! What do I care.. I've got a tail!"
posted by econous at 2:15 PM on February 27, 2007
Perhaps dog's faces are a little unexpresive, but s/he seriously didn't seem to give a shit. Kinda like s/he was thinking: "Weightless..? Pah! What do I care.. I've got a tail!"
posted by econous at 2:15 PM on February 27, 2007
Got up this morning. Checked in with Mefi before going off to take bar exam. Watched dog. Snorted.
Got home from bar exam. Checked in with mefi. Watched dog again. Would have snorted again, had snorting circuits not been blasted to jelly by exam.
Thanks, Grapefruitmoon.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 5:51 PM on February 27, 2007
Got home from bar exam. Checked in with mefi. Watched dog again. Would have snorted again, had snorting circuits not been blasted to jelly by exam.
Thanks, Grapefruitmoon.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 5:51 PM on February 27, 2007
Wow, I am kind of horrified by the cat video. That poor cat!!
posted by Salamandrous at 8:39 PM on February 27, 2007
posted by Salamandrous at 8:39 PM on February 27, 2007
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posted by pkingdesign at 4:01 AM on February 27, 2007