flies

Artistic representation of numerical discrimination in Drosophila. Credit: Mercedes Bengochea, Maria Ines OviedoIn a study at the Paris Brain Institute, fruit flies demonstrated numerical sensitivity, preferring larger quantities and distinguishing between quantities based on clear ratios. The crucial role of LC11 neurons in this skill was identified, highlighting the cognitive capabilities of insects and their importance in understanding human brain function.In the animal world, you don’t need to learn a numeral system –…

Earth narrowly missed an asteroid that flew past last week – and…

A team of scientists from the University of Tokyo have identified a group of neurons in fruit fly brains responsible for visual aversion to perceived threats. The findings offer potential insights into how humans react to fear, and the team aims to further explore this brain circuitry, which may inform future treatments for anxiety disorders and phobias.A cluster of neurons in the brains of fruit flies has been found to control visual aversion to scary objects.Averting our eyes from things that scare us may be due to a…

There are 20 seconds in the 1996 blockbuster film Independence Day that get me every time. And it’s not some big reveal. It’s not some funny joke or hugely emotional beat. It’s just a brief, 20-second blip where the film achieves a level of perfection that, I feel, it never reaches again, and this is coming from a massive fan of the film.Spoilers of the Week | June 3rdThe moment comes about an hour into the proceedings. America has decided to fight back at the aliens who have just destroyed several major cities, killing…

Image via 20th Century Fox Original superhero stories are getting harder and harder to come by as the genre edges closer towards saturation point on an annual basis, but there’s no denying that Chronicle still stands tall more than a decade on from its release as one of the most strikingly unique entries to the genre the 21st Century has seen. Found footage in itself was well past tired by the time the movie arrived in 2021, but painting it in a fresh coat of superpowered paint turned out to be a masterstroke…

The day of the robot is over? Well, meet the M4! It is the artificial assistant you have always craved for, but no one could ever build. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has developed a new RC car-sized Morphobot that can transform its structure to walk, drive, and fly. This morphobot is called M4 ( Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot). it is built with the latest electronics, motors, and a small computer that help it decide which shape to turn into.Over the years we have seen the robotics industry evolve from…

In 2008, a fruit fly known as the spotted-wing drosophila made its way from Southeast Asia to the continental US, likely hitching a ride on fruit shipments. First detected in California raspberry fields, the insect rapidly spread to other states.Unlike the common fruit fly, which is attracted to rotting food, spotted-wing drosophila prefers ripening, healthy fruit. Using a serrated, tubelike organ, the females slice through fruit skin and deposit their eggs inside. When the eggs hatch, the emerging larvae destroy the…

Image via Marvel Studios The fact Samuel L. Jackson recently spoke out on the “incel dudes who hate strong women” in defense of friend and co-star Brie Larson makes it abundantly clear that the ongoing hate campaign against the actress shows no signs of abating, a full seven years after she was first announced to be taking top billing in Captain Marvel. Between then and now, we’ve seen Rotten Tomatoes alter its algorithm to try and combat review-bombing, the Academy Award winner repeatedly bite back against her…

via MGM Any self-respecting movie rooted in real-life events should at the very least attempt to aim for some semblance of historical accuracy, but being torn apart for its excessive creative liberties turned out to be just one of the many curses placed upon 2006’s forgotten Flyboys. A small selection of the nitpicks included the blending of two different airborne outfits that did a disservice to subject Eugene Bullard, inconsistencies on the technical aspects of the planes used throughout, military uniforms…

Cr. NETFLIX ​© 2020 Netflix’s recent changes to how it measures viewership data is already proving to be a bone of contention among creatives, but it has at least done the unthinkable and dredged a largely irrelevant superhero movie back from the depths, with Robert Rodriguez’s We Can Be Heroes now officially designated as one of the platform’s 10 most successful in-house features of all-time. In fact, it’s moved all the way up to sixth position by way of 137 million total views, even if there’s a lot of people…