Hello folks who are still questioning what came first? The Plant-based chicken or the plant-based egg,

All of us, sooner or later become comfortable in the lifestyle we are accustomed to, the house we live in, the cream cheese-bagel combination we get every morning, the frequency at which we check the tracking status of the package delivery and asking strangers about how they feel about the weather. If for some reason, you had to change all those things you are so used to, what a nightmare would that be.

Inertia is that weird physics cat that discourages any object at rest to get any real work done. Think of it as a friend who just wants you to keep on smoking weed and not own any responsibilities.


But inertia is also the tendency of an object which is in motion to not stop unless the speed police (read friction) ask it to come to a stop. Think of it as a friend who never wants you to stop doing coke.


In short, Inertia wants go-getters to continue to be go-getters and no-getters to continue to be no-getters. This is evident when birds are about to land. The only way to stop inertia from getting the last laugh is by enlisting the help of the air resistance and friction army. 


As they start their descent you will see them angle their wings to increase the air resistance and when they have lowered their descent speed significantly, they will deploy their legs as air brakes to generate some much-needed friction. Just as your airplane does not come to a stop right away on touchdown, you will see birds dragging for some distance after hitting the ground. 
Below is the Canada Goose landing on a patch of grass.


Gulls reduce their descent velocity close to zero before landing on the water surface, hence their landing mimics a helicopter landing.

The Canada Goose will leverage its webbed feet as air brakes for landing on water. Not the smoothest landing, I agree.


Even pigeons are not exempt from the jaws of inertia. At first if you just see them landing on a streetlight, you might not think much of it. 



But if you see them landing in slow motion you will see them dragging for a short distance before coming to a complete stop.


Pigeons always get a bad rap for hanging out on telephone and electrical wires constantly judging people who are rushing to their next gig in a busy city.


But how they balance themselves on those wires in the presence of light winds is the fascinating part. You see, just as you would balance yourself instinctively on a balance beam by extending your arms to the side, the pigeon uses its tail to counteract the forces that cause it to tilt on either of the sides of the wire and thus maintain the balance.


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