Can't Hit It?

Ever wonder why flies are so hard to hit? Well researchers (yes there are researchers who actually study flies) at the California Institute of Technology have figured out why. Flies brains are wired to avoid the swatter. They take 200 milliseconds to register the attack, position themselves, and fly away from the angle of attack. "This illustrates how rapidly the fly's brain can process sensory information into an appropriate motor response," said Michael Dickinson, lead researcher. He also offered this advice in order to hit the pesky flies. "It is best not to swat at the fly's starting position," Dickinson said. Instead, aim for the escape route.

Dickinson, a bioengineer, has devoted his life's work to the study of insect flight. He has built a tiny robotic fly called Robofly and a 3-D visual flight simulator called Fly-O-Vision.*

*taken from Yahoo.com