Researchers at MIT and Georgia Tech have uncovered the secret behind how dogs and cats drink, and they differ greatly. "I have no idea why cats don't just do it the ordinary way" says David Hu, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, "I think that dogs generally have a better way to do it."

Dogs simply use their tongues like a laddle, scooping liquids into their mouths and repeating. Cats, on the other hand, use a much more comlicated system. Cats bring their tongues straight down, just past the surface of the water or milk, and very quickly flick and retract their tongues. This movement sends a jet of the liquid straight up, almost following their tongues, and into their mouths. Cats can repeat this process over four times a second.

Hu's interest in this case is directed to studying the principles of fluid motion, while researchers at MIT are trying to incorporate the cat tongue movement into the development of more flexible robotic systems. Hu's research focuses on fundamental problems of hydrodynamics and elasticity that have bearing on problems in biology. He is interested in the dynamics of interfaces, specifically those associated with fluid-solid and solid-solid interactions. The techniques used in his work include theory, computation, and experiment. He is also interested in pursuing biomimetic technologies based on nature's designs. Hu received his Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT.