Caltech scientists discover mechanism for wind detection in fruit flies
Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 08:35
in Biology & Nature
Tiny, lightweight fruit flies need to know when it's windy out so they can steady themselves and avoid being knocked off their feet or blown off course. But how do they figure out that it's time to hunker down? According to a team led by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientists reporting in the resent issue of the journal Nature, the flies have evolved a specialised population of neurones in their antennae that let them know not only when the wind is blowing, but also the direction from which it is coming...