US researchers explain how cats lap liquids with elegance

1. US researchers on Thursday unveiled the secret of how cats lap water or milk with such elegance, a phenomenon that happens so fast it cannot be followed by human eyes.
2. Cats are among the many species that, unlike humans, cannot close their mouths and create suction.
3. With help from from high-speed video taken of a felines lapping liquid, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University found that household cats and larger felines like tigers balance gravity and inertia as they imbibe liquids.
4. By studying the images researchers have now determined that there is no ladling effect, but instead the cat's tongue darts in and out so quickly that the action forms a column of liquid.
5. Cats, unlike dogs, aren't dipping their tongues into the liquid like ladles.
6. The smooth tip of cat's tongue barely brushes the surface of the liquid before the cat rapidly draws its tongue back up. A column of milk forms between the moving tongue and the liquid's surface. The cat then closes its mouth, pinching off the top of the column for a nice drink, while keeping its chin dry.
7. The liquid column is created by a delicate balance between gravity, which pulls the liquid back to the bowl, and inertia, which in physics, refers to the tendency of the liquid or any matter, to continue moving in a direction unless another force interferes. The cat instinctively knows just how quickly to lap in order to balance these two forces, and just when to close its mouth. If it waits another fraction of a second, the force of gravity will overtake inertia, causing the column to break, the liquid to fall back into the bowl, and the cat's tongue to come up empty.
8. Cats average about four laps per second, with each lap bringing in about 0.1 milliliters of liquid. The larger felines lap at a slower pace.
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1. Very interesting finding about nature and the Creator.
2. The finding may help in developing of new technologies and conservation.
3. This kind of research may be rejected by Malaysian Professors OR Grant's panels because it is not a BASIC OR FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH.
4. Hopefully with new budget under MOHE will open our assessors eyes and mind.