As an aspiring scientist who has a deep love for cats, would there be any reason for me not to combine science with my feline fascination? Lucky me, I was able to connect cats and evolution on a small scale by using math.

Evolution is how everything around us grew and changed with time. Things adapted, others died out. With all of the evidence, it’s hard for me to refute it.

I read an interesting article that stated that cat purrs and the cries of babies have a common effect on humans: Distress.

The curiosity of a cat sparked in my head. I could test this. It would be small and have very little meaning to everyone else in the world, but I could test this, for me.

In an awesome class called Fourier Analysis, I got the equipment to explore my questions. It did not take long for my classmates to peg me as that “cat lady,” but I didn’t care. For me, this was as spectacular as a cat finding a field of catnip.

For about a week, I followed cats around to record their purrs. That was the best part. I recorded cats when they wanted food, attention or just some love.

Using Fourier analysis, I extracted the frequencies in the purrs and compared them to frequencies in the screams of babies. While I did not find exact frequency-for-frequency match, there were still quite a few similarities.

Just imagine it’s 3 a.m., and a cat is purring as loud as she can. Food is the only thing on her mind. Since she is probably crawling on top of you, the loud drumming cannot be ignored. This particular sound wave has several frequencies and patterns similar to a hungry baby, but not as intense.

Cats evolved to purr at a higher frequency as they became domesticated. The higher the frequency, the more we will respond to them. Like all of evolution, it was unintentional adaptation. Cats just need to know where to go when they need something, just like every other baby on the planet.

I like to call this my personal victory for evolution. While this might not represent a revolutionary discovery, it is a reminder that provable science is all around us. Knowing that is enough to make me a happy scientist.

caoconno@mavs.coloradomesa.edu