Name: 飛吧貓咪！為什麼貓從高處掉落都還能活得好好的呢？ (How This Cat Survived A 32-Story Fall)
Uploaded: 2018-11-18T21:01:40.000Z
Duration: 3 min 16 s

Narrator: 32 stories above the streets of New York City,

旁白：在紐約市距離地面 32 層樓的高度

After vets treated the cat's chipped tooth and collapsed lungs,

獸醫醫治了這隻貓斷裂的牙齒和氣胸後

舉例來說，把一隻貓倒著丟下去

and it will almost always land on its feet.

That's because cats are extremely flexible.

They can twist their bodies mid-air as they fall.

牠們可以在掉落時，在半空中扭轉身軀

But landing feet first isn't always the best strategy.

但是腳先著地並不總是最好的策略

Like if you're falling from 32 stories up.

像如果是從 32 層樓高掉下來的話

To figure out how cats manage that perfect landing every time,

為了得知貓咪如何每一次都能完美著陸

a series of studies looked at over a 100 cats' falls from two to 32 stories up.

一系列的研究觀察了 100 隻貓從 2 至 32 樓掉落的情況

who fell from the second floor had fewer injuries than cats who fell from the sixth floor.

比起從 6 樓跌落的，2 樓掉下來的貓咪比較少受傷

the extent of the injuries largely stayed the same,

Well, it all comes down to acrobatics or lack thereof.

嗯，這應該都要歸功給特技表演

Cats that fell from two to seven stories up mostly landed feet-first.

從 2 至 7 樓掉落的貓咪多半都是用腳著陸

Above that, however, cats used a different technique.

然而在更高的樓層時，貓會使用不同的技巧

Instead of positioning their legs straight down as they fell,

牠們會攤開身體，像是跳傘一樣

但這個方式並非百分之百安全無虞

or broken rib is more common with this landing method.

或是肋骨斷裂都有可能伴隨而來

But the risk of breaking a leg is much less.

So, how do cats somehow subconsciously know how to land?

所以，為什麼貓潛意識地就會知道如何著陸呢？

It has to do with a physics phenomenon called terminal velocity.

這和一個叫做終端速度的物理現象有關

At first, the cat plummets faster and faster under gravity

一開始因為地心引力，貓的墜落速度會越來越快

until she's fallen the equivalent of five stories.

At that point, she hits constant terminal velocity at 100 kilometers per hour.

在這個時候，她達到了她的終端速度 —— 每小時 100 公里

where air friction counteracts her acceleration under gravity.

空氣摩擦力抵消了她的重力加速度

At this point, she's no longer accelerating

在這個時候，她不再繼續加速了

So, here's what researchers think is happening.

cats don't have enough time to reach terminal velocity

their instinct changes and they parachute their limbs.

牠們的本能就會使得牠們攤開四肢

All that said, don't throw your cat out of a window.

總而言之呢，別把你的貓丟出窗外

Don't throw your cat out the window just to see all that go down.

別為了看牠掉下去會如何，就把你的貓咪丟出窗