There’s a saying that cats always land on their feet. While that’s not always true, cats do know how to twist themselves in mid-air to land on their feet when they need to. Amazingly, cats have fallen from as high as 32 stories and survived.
It turns out that anything above seven stories lets the cat spread out like a parachute and land on its belly. This avoids risking broken legs but does risk collapsed lungs and broken ribs. When cats fall from a shorter distance, they do tend to land on their legs.
The science behind falling cats is amazing, which is why people enjoy studying cats so much. That way they can say they’re working when they’re really just spending time with cats.