News tagged with flying insect

Swimming led to flying, physicists say

(PhysOrg.com) -- Like a fish paddles its pectoral fins to swim through water, flying insects use the same physics laws to "paddle" through the air, say Cornell physicists.

Physics / General Physics

created May 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Studying butterfly flight to help build bug-size flying robots

To improve the next generation of insect-size flying machines, Johns Hopkins engineers have been aiming high-speed video cameras at some of the prettiest bugs on the planet. By figuring out how butterflies ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Ancient 'monster' insect offers Halloween inspiration

Just in time for Halloween, researchers have announced the discovery of a new, real-world "monster" - what they are calling a "unicorn" fly that lived about 100 million years ago and is being described as ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 0

Researchers induce freezing tolerance in fruit fly

(PhysOrg.com) -- Most of what is known about the ability of some cold blooded animals and several insects to survive having their body temperature fall below freezing has led to the conclusion that those organisms ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

New insights into health and environmental effects of carbon nanoparticles

Carbon nanoparticles are widely used in medicine, electronics, optics, materials science and architecture, but their health and environmental impact is not fully understood.

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Aug 05, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 2

Scientists discover aggression-promoting pheromone in flies (w/ Video)

Have you ever found yourself struggling to get your order taken at a crowded bar or lunch counter, only to walk away in disgust as more aggressive customers elbow their way to the front? It turns out that ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 06, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (10) | comments 1

Tiny flying machines inspired by nature will revolutionize surveillance work

Tiny aerial vehicles are being developed with innovative flapping wings based on those of real-life insects.

Technology / Engineering

created Jul 28, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Dogs, maybe not, but old genes can learn new tricks

A popular view among evolutionary biologists that fundamental genes do not acquire new functions was challenged this week by a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Biology / Evolution

created May 11, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 2

The buzz around beer

Ever wondered why flies are attracted to beer? Entomologists at the University of California, Riverside have, and offer an explanation. They report that flies sense glycerol, a sweet-tasting compound that ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

How does DEET work? Study says it confuses insects (Update)

For almost 50 years, people have used insect repellents containing DEET. But scientists still argue about how the stuff works.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A new role is hatched for female fruit flies

A team of New York University biologists has uncovered a previously unknown role for a set of cells within the female reproductive tract of fruit flies that affects the functioning of sperm and hence fertility. Their discovery, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Hummingbirds catch flying bugs with the help of fast-closing beaks (w/ video)

The shape of a hummingbird's beak allows for a "controlled elastic snap" that allows it to snatch up flying insects in a mere fraction of a second —with greater speed and power than could be achieved by jaw muscles alone, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 19, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Bifocals' in mangrove fish species discovered

(PhysOrg.com) -- A "four-eyed" fish that sees simultaneously above and below the water line has offered up a dramatic example of how gene expression allows organisms to adapt to their environment.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 20, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Wheat can't stop Hessian flies, so scientists find reinforcements

(PhysOrg.com) -- Wheat's genetic resistance to Hessian flies has been failing, but a group of Purdue University and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists believe that other plants may soon be able to come ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Flies process attractive and deterrent odors in different brain areas

In collaboration with colleagues from Portugal and Spain, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have developed an apparatus that automatically applies odors to an airstream, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0