A fly with a brain the size of a salt grain has the behavioral repertoire nearly as complex as a much larger animal such as a mouse. That's a super-interesting problem from an engineering perspective. — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
Fly flight is just a great phenomenon to study. It has everything - from the most sophisticated sensory biology; really, really interesting physics; really… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
I grew up watching 'Star Trek.' I love 'Star Trek.' 'Star Trek' made me want to see alien creatures, creatures from a far-distant world.… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
One of the fastest things a fruit fly does is take information from its eyes and react accordingly. — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
Like many insects, flies are most sensitive to green light. This means that they would see their world as 'black and white,' in that… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
We discovered that fruit flies alter course in less than one one-hundredth of a second, 50 times faster than we blink our eyes, which… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
For many years in my laboratory and other laboratories around the world, we've been studying fly behaviors in little flight simulators. You can tether… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
Only flies have true halteres. In fact, the scientific term for flies, 'diptera,' means 'two wings.' Most insects, including bees, have two pairs of… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
Although their maneuverability is limited, blind flies can fly remarkably well. — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
The robotic fly that we actually make the most use of in our laboratory is actually not a small thing, it's a giant thing.… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
When you see a fly flitting around your hair or your potato salad, you might see an annoyance. But in my lab, you really… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
If flies are a great model, they're a great model for flies. These animals, you know, they're not like us. We don't fly. We… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
Although finding fruit flies in your wine or beer can be a bit annoying, I hope people will pause to admire the tenacity of… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
If you watch a fly on, say, a coffee table, you'll see that they're rubbing their little legs together to groom themselves; they're actually… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
I'm obsessed with insects, particularly insect flight. I think the evolution of insect flight is perhaps one of the most important events in the… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
When it first notices an approaching threat, a fly's body might be in any sort of posture depending on what it was doing at… — Michael Dickinson Copy Share Image
