fruit fly

A biomechanics researcher wishes he had the brains of a fruitfly. Apparently the little fellows can:

  1. calculate the location of an impending threat (flyswatter)
  2. come up with an escape plan
  3. place its legs in an optimal position to hop out of the way in the opposite direction.

And do it all in about 100 milliseconds after the fly first spots the swatter.

This researcher knows this because he has spent some 20 years watching flies, um, fly, out of the way.

With high-resolution, high-speed digital imaging, he watched the fly maneuver its legs depending on the angle of the incoming missile, flyswatter. The good news - we have new insights into the fly nervous system. And that will help all fly chasers everywhere.

The plan for swatting a fly - “It is best not to swat at the fly’s starting position, but rather to aim a bit forward of that to anticipate where the fly is going to jump when it first sees your swatter.”

Now, aren’t you really glad you are reading GreenPacks? And, gosh, if we did have such brains as a fruitfly, we wouldn’t have to worry too much about being swatted, would we?

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