Cat in Zero Gravity - Animal Testing at its Most Bizarre
October 24, 2004 12:01 PM   Subscribe

Pinky goes to Mars. [via BoingBoing]
posted by scarabic (31 comments total)
 
you got punked, sir!
I can only get the second link to work, but it's amusing as hell. I love the delight on the guy's face as he tosses the cat across the plane.
posted by Busithoth at 12:58 PM on October 24, 2004


Wow. How amazingly and unnecessarily cruel.
posted by Mwongozi at 1:02 PM on October 24, 2004


"hey! we're in space!!!! Let's bash cats into walls!!! wooottt!!"
posted by zelphi at 1:28 PM on October 24, 2004


It's astonishing that the cat didn't shit all over itself with terror.
posted by interrobang at 1:40 PM on October 24, 2004


That poor thing is spinning around 90 RPM near the end. It would be a great poetic justice if shortly after the film ended, the cat threw up all over the guy's flight suit.

Also, this is what U.S. tax dollars pay for?
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:43 PM on October 24, 2004




Why.... WHY???
posted by Krrrlson at 1:53 PM on October 24, 2004


We choose to throw cats in space. We choose to throw cats in space in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because it would be really funny.

It is for these reasons that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from the moon to throwing cats as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency.
posted by Stan Chin at 2:00 PM on October 24, 2004


This is the second video of people fucking with cats posted this week. What gives? Is it "Cruelty to Cats" week or something?
posted by chill at 2:31 PM on October 24, 2004


"cruelty?" You people don't know teh joy of driving cats nuts.
posted by Space Coyote at 2:36 PM on October 24, 2004


You people don't know teh joy of shaking babies. It r0xrs.
posted by bargle at 2:53 PM on October 24, 2004


Please tell me that all of you complaining about the poor cat are joking. Otherwise, my advice to you is to dip into the savings and purchase a sense of humor.
posted by euphorb at 3:47 PM on October 24, 2004


Thanks, Krrrlson! That's my new CS spray!
posted by Evstar at 3:50 PM on October 24, 2004


moift gets the credit for sadcat: http://blogdar.ebloggy.com/
posted by Krrrlson at 4:05 PM on October 24, 2004


Abject cruelty is so funny! And I am such a cutting-edge, modern cynic for finding this funny!
posted by oflinkey at 4:06 PM on October 24, 2004


The way the cat runs underneath the legs of the astronaut for safety at the end of the clip makes it pretty clear how much it's enjoying being thrown against the wall.

If this were just a clip of a cat floating and waving its legs around to adjust to zero gravity, that would have been cool to see. As it is, the astronauts just look like assholes.
posted by interrobang at 4:45 PM on October 24, 2004


You people don't know teh joy of driving cats nuts.

Hey, I've got a cat. I love driving her nuts. It's just that my method of doing so involves the reflection of the sun off my watch, not tossing her repeatedly at a wall.
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:47 PM on October 24, 2004


I completely agree with Johnny Assay. This horrified me. It's one thing to play with your cat, toss little fuzzy toys around with it, etc., and quite another to put it in an environment it can't understand, not give it time to adapt, and then make it worse (the throwing against the wall). Believe me, I have a sense of humor and I get great laughs watching my cats chase after the flashlight's projection on the walls and floor. But this really, really pisses me off. I have never called anyone out here at MeFi but euphorb, your comment really sucks. Not only for your opinion on the whole thing, which I disagree with (that in itself would be fine, we're all here to discuss and of course not everyone will agree) BUT ESPECIALLY for your snotty sarcastic attitude in stating said opinion.

Just a thought...after all of the horrible, amazing, crazy things I've seen here and on other sites...it's interesting that something as simple as this really gets to me. I'm going to continue to treat my cats as well as I always do, but give them some extra treats and playtime tonight.
posted by rio at 5:54 PM on October 24, 2004


It's not like they're swinging it around their heads by its tail. No animals were harmed in the making of this film. Relax. Save your outrage for where it matters.
posted by euphorb at 6:31 PM on October 24, 2004


As someone who thinks that PETA members are generally a bunch of mentally challenged tree hugging hippie nitwits and makes fun of them on regular occasion - I still must say that seeing this made my stomach churn.

Sorry, but that is some sick and cruel shit to do, and for the assclown who said "get a sense of humor" -- get a sense of human fucking decency you bastard. Throwing animals at a wall isn't funny.

Furthermore, if you know jack about cats - you know that they're incredibly sensitive to environmental change, they don't even like it when their litterbox is moved. As such - taking them on a zero-g plane for an experiment is one thing - but throwing them around and watching them literally freak out? Sick. Just sick.
posted by twiggy at 6:31 PM on October 24, 2004


The thing you have to realize about PETA is that they are not a political lobbying organization, they are a performance art troupe. Once you keep that in mind, their stunts are a lot more entertaining.

I agree the cat didn't like it, but you know, it didn't last as long as a bath -- and few cats like baths.

I do suspect that once a cat got used to zero gravity, it would adapt amazingly well -- better than most domestic animals by far. The litterbox would be a problem, though.
posted by dhartung at 6:50 PM on October 24, 2004


I think he was trying to see if cats always land on their feet, even in zero g, and against a wall.

But seriously, as dhartung said, giving a cat a bath seems to create more terror and panic than the cat in the video had.
posted by Iax at 6:55 PM on October 24, 2004


I've got a cat on my lap now. Should I toss her up in the air for science? Um, fuck that, I know what gravity does and she doesn't need the stress. Same goes for zero gee. Scientists I'm sure know they wouldn't have a blissed out creature on their hands, and took it too far. Heinous.

So, Canada, how's your space program doing these days?
posted by moonbird at 7:32 PM on October 24, 2004


The cat wasn't even sent toward the wall at nearly the speed at wihch most cats would hit the ground after jumping from a similar height. Get a grip, people.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:35 PM on October 24, 2004


I can imagine the valuable science that is going to come out of this:

1452 hrs: Heart rate of feline module (hereafter referred to as "cat") was measured at 200 beats per minute (BPM).

1453 hrs: Cat was tossed "sideways" (i.e. perpendicular to experimentor) during "vomit comet" procedure. Cat's heart rate increased to 500 BPM. Cat described spiral X/Y/Z axis movement through cabin. Imact with wall was recorded as a 40-decibel (DB) "thump". Cat appeared disoriented.

1454 hrs: Cat was once again tossed. Heart rate increased to 600 BPM.

1456 hrs: Cat experienced peristalsis. Emesis recovered from experimentor's flight suit (FS) showed that cat had consumed "Fancy Feast" Salmon-flavored treats prior to flight.


FINDINGS

Though it is still unknown whether it is necessary to impact cats with hulls, our findings are conclusive: cats, when thrown towards airplane walls, experience a marked increase in heart rate, disorientation, and vomiting.

It is thus recommended that further research is necessary, due to a lack of a control cat (i.e. one that is not thrown against the wall during a zero gravity-type flight event).

posted by interrobang at 7:50 PM on October 24, 2004


1. The cat doesn't move that quickly and isn't being bashed into a wall, which would be heavily padded in any event, as people often run into the walls on those flights, too.

2. Compared to monkeys being infected with terminal diseases and mice being bred to grow tumours, a cat being confused and panicking for a few seconds doesn't even rate on the grand science scale of cruelty.

3. There is significant medical research to be done on the sense of balance. Observing the reaction of a cat, which has a well-documented response in normal gravity, in a microgravity environment will provide useful data on how its sense of balance works. You or I may not find it funny, but it's not being done for kicks. These kinds of flights are very expensive and thus heavily planned and tightly scheduled.
posted by cardboard at 8:43 PM on October 24, 2004


I am glad that once we get off this jerkwater planet, we'll be able to take cats with us due to the highly unexpected results of this research. You can clearly see that one single cord is connected to this cat, and it is undoubtedly a cord connected directly to the balance-processing part of the cat, down there around the liver.
posted by interrobang at 8:54 PM on October 24, 2004


But seriously, as dhartung said, giving a cat a bath seems to create more terror and panic than the cat in the video had.

You give a cat a bath because it needs one, not because you find the terror and panic entertaining. It's like the difference between taking a baby in for a vaccination vs. poking it with pins because you get a kick out of the shrieking.
posted by boredomjockey at 9:02 PM on October 24, 2004



You give a cat a bath because it needs one, not because you find the terror and panic entertaining. It's like the difference between taking a baby in for a vaccination vs. poking it with pins because you get a kick out of the shrieking.


No, it's more like poking a baby to make sure that pins are sharp. You're already pretty sure that they are, but you want to make sure.

I have nothing at all against science, and I can even rationalize this experiment, but I can't possibly see how they expected any results that were not perfectly obvious with this one.
posted by interrobang at 9:07 PM on October 24, 2004


Cat people: get a grip.
posted by majcher at 11:24 PM on October 24, 2004


The first one was funny cause he got bit in the nuts.
posted by TungstenChef at 5:44 AM on October 25, 2004


a cat being confused and panicking for a few seconds doesn't even rate on the grand science scale of cruelty.

Yup. No real harm was done to the cat. This is probably not the first time a cat has ridden the vomit comet.

it's not being done for kicks. These kinds of flights are very expensive and thus heavily planned and tightly scheduled.

Right. Just look at all that serious science going on.
posted by sfenders at 8:20 AM on October 25, 2004


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