You Are Now Free to Move About the Insect - ScienceNOW - 1 views
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Researchers thought that flies chose their altitude based on optic flow, a phenomenon familiar to anyone who has ridden an airplane.
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The team's observations, published online today in Current Biology, suggest that flies base their cruising altitude on horizontal edges and landmarks—such as table surfaces or tree tops—and not on how fast the ground is moving beneath them. The edge-tracking strategy may enable flies to keep tabs on possible landing spots.
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This may be the general principle" for all flying insects, he says.
