Slashdot Mirror
Fruit Flies, Fighter Jets Use Similar Evasive Tactics When Attacked
vinces99 writes: "When startled by predators, tiny fruit flies respond like fighter jets – employing screaming-fast banked turns to evade attacks. Researchers at the University of Washington used an array of high-speed video cameras operating at 7,500 frames a second to capture the wing and body motion of flies after they encountered a looming image of an approaching predator (abstract). 'We discovered that fruit flies alter course in less than one one-hundredth of a second, 50 times faster than we blink our eyes, and which is faster than we ever imagined.' In the midst of a banked turn, the flies can roll on their sides 90 degrees or more, almost flying upside down at times, said Florian Muijres, a UW postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the paper. 'These flies normally flap their wings 200 times a second and, in almost a single wing beat, the animal can reorient its body to generate a force away from the threatening stimulus and then continues to accelerate,' he said."
Anyone who has ever had these little bastards in their house could have told you how good they are at evading predators.
"We discovered that fruit flies alter course in less than one one-hundredth of a second, 50 times faster than we blink our eyes"
Almost as fast as a politician during an election campaign.
There is a variable angle change just after the initial turn away from the threat that allows the fly to be unpredictable. Otherwise the predator can predict the fly will evade directly away and anticipate where the fly will be. Very clever.
I think the fruit flies have prior art by a wide margin.
fascinating
The flies need all the speed they can muster, to evade the even more deadly dead cat helicopter.
Now with more Kenny Loggins.
Fruit Flies, Fighter Jets Use Similar Evasive Tactics When Attacked
I've never seen a fighter jet flap it's wings like that...
Dr. Baronovich: "You must think in Fruit Fly."
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
It's an analogy between two things, not a patent application.
It's normal for the thing you're talking about to be mentioned first and said to be like the more commonly known thing. Reversing it would have people thinking that you're talking about jet fighters for the rest of the paragraph.
It sounds like they simply described the fly turning directly away from the predator and running, which is NOT what a fighter jet does (unless they just want to be shot down by a missile). At least, not unless they were already outside of their range (at that point, running is the best strategy).
A fighter jet would make a sharp turn TOWARDS the attacker so as to cross his path at a sharp angle, which maximizes the velocity difference between them (velocity is a vector, and they are rapidly closing at an angle). This maximizes the amount of delta-V a missile would have to apply to intercept the aircraft, and in the event of a gunshot it maximizes the amount of lead angle that would need to be used (which is very difficult to pull off). Basically you try to ruin their opportunity to fire on you, so that you can get into a dogfight and hopefully get an opportunity to fire at them.
See something bad and run away is a very intuitive strategy, and it probably makes a lot of sense in nature where predators have to make physical contact to hurt you. In a world of weapons where things like lead angles and enfilading fire come into play the optimum strategy may not be what a rabbit does when it sees a cat.
And that is precisely why I use this exact same maneuver to avoid my mother-in-law.
Finally, an excuse to play Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins when I try and swat the lil bastards!
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
In the midst of a banked turn, the flies can roll on their sides 90 degrees or more, almost flying upside down at times, said Florian Muijres
"Do a barrel roll!"
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
That I can seriously curb the fighter jet population by filling an Olympic sized swimming pool with of vinegar and a box of detergent to break the surface tension?
...fruit flies like bananas. I stand corrected.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
When shit gets attacked it tries to get out of harms way. Thanks Slashdot. Now I know.
Who knew that the best thing to do when something dangerous was coming at you was to get out of its way as fast as possible...
It's cool that they observed the fly behaviour...but it's not the most deeply insightful finding.
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
"There's a bunch of fighter jets in my pickled cucumbers!"
It will attract fighter jets.
"Too close for missiles, switching to guns!"
Have gnu, will travel.
Good thing they didn't try to perform a split-S; that would have had Charlie all over them. Everyone knows it's the last thing you should do.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
They always go to starboard in the bottom half of the hour.
Have gnu, will travel.
Do they scream out cliches like "I can't shake 'im" and "I got a bogey on my six!"? And, do they have ambiguously gay volleyball matches after a sweaty dogfight?
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
You don't kill them in midair. Wait for them to land and then aim a hand clap starting at their level and ending slightly above them, they instinctively take flight upwards and die.
Also had a dog that used to corner them by going right,left,right ... and eat them. Guess that also works.
"... in less than one one-hundredth of a second, 50 times faster than we blink our eyes" 1/2 a second to blink?! or is the fly actually quicker than one-hundredth of a second?
...is that something with the brain the size of a fruit fly can discriminate between a predator and a non-predator, and react defensively.
We really need to figure out how brains work, lol.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
The proof is in the phrase "[they] flap their wings ...". Unless we've developed fighting ornithopters, and we haven't, then comparison is absurd. They are both subject to aeronautical forces and physics. That's what they share, and that's about it.
Unless the author is suggesting that fruit flies have developed air-to-air weapons? Or that we thought fruit flies under threat adopt the strategy "straight, steady and level, that's how we'll get through this!"