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 the time, like grooming, feeding, walking, or courting. Our experiments showed that the fly somehow 'knows'… — 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
