Little Things with Big Information
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a coffee fruit. Or bananas. Whatever. They bother a lot of people, but don't seem to do a lot of harm. (Our Basement Cat eats the things if she can catch them.) They do lay eggs in our stuff, though. These monstrous, huge aviators (1/8 inch, 3-4 mm) not only thwart efforts to force them to evolve, they're full of fascinating information — and possible inspirations for applications.
Although larger flying insects are studied, scientists are discovering just how they were intricately created; they defy evolution. (Not that fungus-to-fruit fly evolutionists will admit that they defy evolution, of course.) Their flight stabilizers are controlled by a kind of multiprocessor in their tiny brains, their biological clocks are being studied to possibly benefit human health, and more. It's a-pear-ant that you should read the article at "Design in Tiny Fruit Flies".
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| Fruit fly liking a coffee fruit / Image credit: USDA-ARS (Usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) |