Finally, cats get useful

I have often commented that cats — hateful, spiteful, contemptuous creatures and spewers of toxic allergens — are merely egg rolls waiting to happen. It turns out that Rik Rose has discovered that they could be used as anti-gravity devices. Thanks to cats, we may all someday zoom about in landspeeders just like those in Star Wars!

Here’s the scientific principle behind it all:

• Take a cat. Drop it. It will land on its feet. All cats land on their feet.
• Take a piece of toast. Butter it. Drop it off the table. It will land butter side down. All toast lands butter side down.
• From the combination of the two, we can easily make a small (roughly cat sized) levitation unit, by buttering the back of a cat. The back will want to land first, from the butter, and the paws will want to land first, because it is a cat. The two forces can be balanced, resulting in a levitating cat. Please note, this cat is now even harder to catch, since it can fly, and is greased

Rik proposes that a Buttered Cat Array can be used to create flying vehicles and space shuttles; I envision floating, furry-bottomed cities.

Damn, science is cool.