We all know that a liquid is a matter capable of adapting its shape to that of the container in which it is placed, and for this reason cats very often seem to fulfill this condition; with their ability to squeeze through any box, bowl or crevice, they look like water, flowing slowly and taking up all available space. In recent years, the slogan “Cats are liquid” has spread on the web, as well as many memes and photos of cats perfectly embedded in cardboard boxes, plastic or glass bowls, but also washbasins. and cracks in the ground.
It is from these photographs that a researcher from the University of Paris conducted a study that won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017
Marc-Antoine Fardin and his collaborators from the University of Paris conducted a study on cats based on the slogan “Cats are liquid” thanks to which he won the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017. This prize is awarded each year by an association that deals with science and humor, Improbable Research. According to this study, cats, being able to adapt to the containers they enter, can be considered both solids and liquids and their state changes depending on the circumstances. The researcher relies on the principle of rheology, according to which the determination of the liquid state of a body depends on the observation time: if we observe the body long enough, we can see it adapt to the container.
The researcher therefore affirms that the small feline will be a solid in a spacious place, while when it enters a small container, it will gradually adapt its shape, to end up occupying all the available space and becoming liquid. A study that makes you smile on first reading, but which offers interesting lines of thought on the nature that surrounds us.
Liquid or not, cats remain a fun and pleasant company and we will continue to photograph them in the most absurd positions. Have you ever observed a perfectly comfortable cat in a tiny space?
source used: drgoulu.com