The Appliance of Fly-ence

Your Science Questions about Flies Answered by Stockholm University Entomologist Dr Ulf Oerstryk

WOULD a fly be able to fly on the moon? Prof. B Cox, CERN Flies are able to fly because their wings push down against the air, the resistance of which causes an upward force to be exerted against their undersides. Since there is no atmosphere on the moon, the downbeat of the wing would encounter no resistance, with no consequent upforce to keep them aloft. But it doesn’t matter because since there is no gravity on the moon, they will just float about all over the shop anyway, like they do on earth. HOW come when you try to swat them, flies can just take off from standing? If you tried to swat an aeroplane, it would have to hurtle down the runway for half a minute before it got…

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Viz (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2024

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