Cats have a seemingly unique ability, a 'righting reflex', to orient themselves in a fall allowing them to avoid many injuries and land on all four feet. It is this ability that helps cats to parachute safely into Borneo and survive falls from the 38th floor of a skyscraper (although falls from lower levels can be more serious given that it takes some time for the cat to right itself). Here's how it works. Here's a video of the reflex in action.
posted by Effigy2000 on Dec 28, 2008 - 68 comments

Reflex is the game responsible for a significant drop in the scores of my final exams. (Friday Flash)
posted by anomie on Dec 17, 2004 - 26 comments