Cats can rotate their bodies 180 degrees while falling without violating the laws of physics —a feat that seems impossible but happens automatically every time a cat falls. This "righting reflex" kicks in when cats are just 3 weeks old and works even when they're blindfolded.
The secret is that cats don't rotate their whole body at once. They rotate their front half and back half in opposite directions, which cancels out the angular momentum and allows them to flip without pushing against anything. It's like a biological gyroscope that defies Newton's laws.
Cats start the flip by tucking their front legs close to their body while extending their back legs, making their front half spin faster than their back half. Then they reverse the process, extending their front legs and tucking their back legs to complete the rotation. The two halves spinning in opposite directions allow the cat to flip without external force.
NASA studied cat falling mechanics to help astronauts orient themselves in zero gravity. The same principles cats use to land on their feet work in space where there's no gravity or air resistance to push against.
Cats also have incredibly flexible spines with 30 vertebrae (humans have 24), allowing them to rotate their bodies in ways that would injure other animals. Their inner ear contains a super-sensitive balance system that instantly detects falling and triggers the automatic flip response.
Every time your cat jumps off something, they're performing a physics miracle that NASA engineers are still trying to fully understand.