The perfect high dive has been modelled on the way a falling cat twists its body in mid air.
Researchers at the University of Sydney led by Associate Professor Holger Dullin produced a computer model of a dive that included five twists using geometric mechanics. The model showed that if a diver starts to twist then adds an arm movement their body can twist faster, and end up with more twists in the short time they’re airborne.
The most twists attempted in a dive is four, but it is not often practiced because it is hard to perform consistently.
Read more at University of Sydney