Courtesy of Pixabay
Looking to kill that pesky fly EVERY SINGLE TIME? Scientists have discovered why flies are so hard to swat, and in doing so they also discovered the perfect way to swat a fly. Experts from the California Institute of Technology say a fly’s brain actually plans the best way to avoid a good swatting within 100 milliseconds of spotting you looming towards it with whatever fly killing device you have handy (fly swatter, rolled up magazine, your husband’s shirt).
Within that minuscule amount of time, the fly places its legs in an optimal position to hop out of the way in the opposite direction, leaving you smacking your table and swearing “the sun was in my eyes!“ The researchers concluded that the optimal method for actually landing the swat is to not to swat at the fly’s starting position, but rather to aim a bit forward of the fly’s current position in anticipation of where the fly will jump when it first sees your swatter.
Not that you have perfected the perfect fly smashing swat, get out there and swat ’em!