WHISKER- A long striff hair growing from the snout or brow of most mammals as e.g. a cat
Domestic cats are mostly active during the night. Therefore, whiskers apparently help them catch prey, and identify close and nearby objects, after dusk.
These(whiskers) are attached to tissues with multiple nerve endings. And the nerves are sensitive even to slightest air movement, that is why even without seeing a nearby object, the cat detect them. Advantage to cat in the dark.
The whiskers are also sensitive to presure, it is used to;
- determine the movement and positio of prey or object
- measure the width of an opening before they can attempt to go through it.
"The functions of vibrissaea (whiskers) are partially understood; it is known that if cut off, the cat is temporarily incapacitated" acknowledges Encyclopaedia Britannica.
In an attempt to emulate the sensitivity of cat whiskers, the scientist are designing rotots equipped with sensor that mimic whiskers to aid the navigate robots around obstacles. They called it e-whiskers. Ali Javey, a faculty scientist at the University of California Berkeley says and i quote " this e-whiskers should have a wild range of application for advance robotics, human-machine user interfaces and biological applications"
Reference
- Amazing whiskers: 4 roles they play in cat behavior. ( www.catser.com)
- why do cat have whiskers? ( www.animal.howstuffwork.com )
- the function of cat whiskers ( https://savvguru.wordpress.com )
- was it designed? The function of cat whiskers ( awake! April 2015 back page)
Images taken from pixabay.com
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Thanks for reading