[00:01.05]Lesson 9
[00:01.95]Flying cats
[00:09.37]How do cats try to protect themselves when falling from great heights?
[00:16.59]Cats never fail to fascinate human beings.
[00:20.56]They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, 
[00:24.43]but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well.
[00:28.73]They never become submissive like dogs and horses.
[00:32.42]As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence.
[00:38.21]Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives.
[00:43.19]One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives.
[00:51.20]Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea.
[00:56.96]A cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact.
[01:02.43]Recently the New York Animal Medical Centre made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months.
[01:12.26]All these cats had one experience in common:
[01:16.42] they had fallen off high buildings,yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries.
[01:23.36]Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, 
[01:29.67]because there is no shortage of tall buildings.
[01:33.64]There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from!
[01:38.31]One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth.
[01:46.64]'Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers,' a doctor said.
[01:51.92]It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves.
[01:58.91]In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more.
[02:04.86]At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax.
[02:09.01]They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels.
[02:13.54]This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.