Xenoergonomics: Drinking Vessels
Humans have very nimble lips compared to yinrih. We are capable of making an airtight seal with our lips (for all practical purposes, anyway), but a yinrih's chops hang loose like those of a dog.
Yinrih drink by putting the tongue in the liquid, forming a spoon shape with the tip of the tongue, scooping up a bit of liquid, and drawing the tongue back into the mouth.
So how do you make a drinking vessel that accommodates this behavior?
It has to be wide enough to fit a yinrih's muzzle. The tongue has to be able to reach the entire bottom surface of the vessel to lap up any remaining liquid, and it has to avoid liquid getting everywhere during the course of drinking.
Pictured above is a possible solution the problems listed above. While the picture is more narrow like a glass, in reality it would be a bit wider, closer to a bowl. The bottom is rounded to allow the remaining liquid to pool at the center, and there's an inward-pointing flange around the lip of the vessel to prevent spillage.
Drinking in microgravity is a bit trickier. Human astronauts use straws, but yinrih can't form a seal with their mouth as stated above, and can't create negative pressure in their oral cavity to suck liquid through a straw. I suspect it would involve something similar to the water bottles you see in rodent cages, where there's a ball bearing forming a seal , and licking the ball causes water to seep out. Those work on gravity, but the ones used by yinrih spacers might use positive pressure.
If I had a 3D printer I'd make one of these and see if it worked with my dog. Sadly, I don't.
