How Do Flies Get Away? (broadcast Friday, August 29th, 2008)

Using super-fast video cameras, Michael Dickinson, a bioengineer from Caltech, discovered why flies are so hard to swat. What did you think of the video? (Credits: Footage courtesy of Michael Dickinson Lab, Caltech. Fruit fly electron microscope image: Jack Scott, Bio-DiTRL, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta. Music by Synthar) See More Videos

In this segment, Ira talks with bioengineering researcher Michael Dickinson of Caltech about new research into why flies are so good at evading an approaching fly swatter. Writing in the journal Current Biology, Dickinson and colleagues report that the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) starts planning its escape as soon as it spots an approaching threat. After seeing the swatter, the fly calculates its location, creates an escape plan, positions its legs to hop away from the swatter, and corrects its posture to account for the activity it was engaged in--all in about 200ms, less than a blink of the eye. We'll talk about the finding, and what researchers hope to learn by studying the movement of fruit flies. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.