A researcher at Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta has developed a hair brush of the future – the design based on a cat’s tongue.
Alexis Noel was inspired after she watched her own cat get its tongue stuck on a fuzzy blanket.
“So I was home for the break during my PhD studies, and my family cat, Murphy, decided to sit on my lap, on top of a microfibre blanket.
“For some reason he thought the blanket smelled really tasty, so he decided to take a lick. And he actually got his tongue stuck on some of those loops of the fabric,” she said.
It prompted her to think whether the rough surface of her pet’s tongue could be replicated for human use as a grooming appliance.
“It got me thinking. Why on earth did this tongue get stuck in the first place? I thought cat tongues were like sandpaper.
“So I came back to the lab, we happened to have a cat tongue in the freezer and I took a closer look under a microscope. That’s where it all started,” she said.
Using high-speed video, she discovered that sharp, claw-shaped barbs cover the front of the tongue.
Noel discovered that the barbs had hollow scoops in them, a trait shared by larger felines such as bobcats, cougars, snow leopards, lions and tigers.
“They actually have a shape very similar to cat claws. So they’re curved on the top and curved on the bottom. But different from cat claws, they actually have a U-shaped channel on the very bottom of the spine.”
“For some reason he thought the blanket smelled really tasty, so he decided to take a lick. And he actually got his tongue stuck on some of those loops of the fabric,” she said.
It prompted her to think whether the rough surface of her pet’s tongue could be replicated for human use as a grooming appliance.
“It got me thinking. Why on earth did this tongue get stuck in the first place? I thought cat tongues were like sandpaper.
“So I came back to the lab, we happened to have a cat tongue in the freezer and I took a closer look under a microscope. That’s where it all started,” she said.
Using high-speed video, she discovered that sharp, claw-shaped barbs cover the front of the tongue.
Noel discovered that the barbs had hollow scoops in them, a trait shared by larger felines such as bobcats, cougars, snow leopards, lions and tigers.“They actually have a shape very similar to cat claws. So they’re curved on the top and curved on the bottom. But different from cat claws, they actually have a U-shaped channel on the very bottom of the spine.”
