A Better Brush

Alexis Noel has a cat named Murphy. One day in 2015, Murphy tried to lick a fuzzy blanket. Suddenly, his tongue got stuck. “I had to help him untangle it,” says Noel. “It was hilarious.”

Noel is an engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Murphy’s mishap gave her an idea. She decided to find out what makes a cat’s tongue grip so well. Now she’s using what she learned to make a better brush for people.

“The basic form of a hairbrush hasn’t changed for 10,000 years,” says Noel. “How do you improve on something so old?” The answer was purring right under her nose.

Alexis Noel has a cat named Murphy. In 2015, Murphy tried to lick a fuzzy blanket. His tongue got stuck. “I had to help him untangle it,” says Noel. “It was hilarious.”

Noel is an engineer. She works at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Murphy’s mistake gave her an idea. She decided to find out what makes a cat’s tongue grip so well. Now she’s using what she learned to make a better brush for people.

“The basic form of a hairbrush hasn’t changed for 10,000 years,” says Noel. “How do you improve on something so old?” The answer was purring right under her nose.

Noel knew that a cat’s scratchy tongue helps the cat groom its fur. But she wondered how exactly it works. “I decided to take a closer look,” she says.

First, Noel filmed a cat’s tongue up close while the cat was licking itself. She saw that the tongue was covered in tiny hook-like spines. These spines catch tangles in the cat’s fur and tease them apart. 

Next, Noel used powerful X-rays to create a see-through image of a single spine. She saw that the spine was hollow, like a cup. This shape allows the spines to scoop up saliva and spread it over the cat’s fur, washing out germs and dirt. 

Noel realized she could use this knowledge to invent a hairbrush that spreads liquid while it brushes. People could use it to spread dye through their hair, shampoo their pets, or even scrub stains out of a rug.

Noel knew that a cat has a scratchy tongue. That helps the cat groom its fur. But she wondered exactly how it works. “I decided to take a closer look,” she says.

First, Noel filmed a cat’s tongue up close. She did it while the cat was licking itself. She saw that the tongue was covered in tiny hook-like spines. These spines catch tangles in the cat’s fur. They help pull the tangles apart.

Next, Noel used powerful X-rays. She made a see-through image of a single spine. She saw that the spine was hollow, like a cup. This shape allows the spines to scoop up spit. The spines spread the spit over the cat’s fur. That washes out germs and dirt.

Noel realized she could use this knowledge to make a hairbrush. It would spread liquid while it brushes. People could use it to spread dye through their hair. They could shampoo their pets. They could even scrub stains out of a rug.