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GENEVA (AFP) - It doesn't pay to be smart and ignorance really is bliss if you want a long life -- at least if you're a fly, according to new research by a Swiss university. Scientists Tadeusz Kawecki and Joep Burger at the University of Lausanne said Wednesday they had discovered a "negative correlation between an improvement in a fly's mental capacity and its longevity". As part of their research project, the results of which are published in the journal Evolution, they divided into two a group of flies from the Basel region of northwestern Switzerland. One half was left...

The Story of Buzz I was sitting in the local saloon, middle of summer, having a cold brew when I first ran into Buzz. The bartender had a fly swatter, chasing the hordes of flies away from the brew he was serving. Since I live in horse and cow country, flies can be a big problem around here. My neighbor, the Bishop, once got some chicken droppings and spread them over his lawn as fertilizer. That was a miserable summer in our neighborhood. I armed my 7 year old son with a fly swatter, and told him that I would...

The Fly Wrangler   My brother tells me I have too much time on my hands.  The other brother says "You need to get a life".   I tried.  I opened a worm ranch.   It went smooth however, I hated branding time.  Each of my worms had "Bobs quality worms" branded on their side, so I could identify them.   But then the thunderstorm came up.   All of my worms stampeded.  Gone.  I was heartbroken.   All I had was my computer, and adverising for my lost worms.   And then a fly landed on my monitor screen.  Just...

Robot Flies In Spy Swarms Updated: 12:31, Sunday October 08, 2006 British military scientists are developing robot flies that can be sent in swarms to spy out enemy positions. Project leader Dr Rafal Zbikowski believes the first drones could be buzzing around his lab within seven to 10 years. He has already produced a non-airborne prototype that mimics the wing beats of a hover fly. Dr Zbikowski says the robot insects will be able to operate in confined spaces within buildings and in tunnels or caves. This would make them invaluable for rooting out hidden terrorists. They could also be...

CORAM, N.Y. - A car hit a dirt hill at high speed and flew 200 feet into the second story of an apartment building on Tuesday, killing the driver, police said. Two people in separate apartments at the time of the 9 a.m. crash escaped injury, and there were no injuries on the street. Investigators did not know what led the driver, Vincent Pontillo Jr., to speed down a dead-end street. His 2004 Honda Accord, which was launched from a 4-foot dirt hill, penetrated the building up to its rear bumper, police spokesman Officer William Fairchild said. An autopsy was...

Deer flies are the flies that buzz around your head when you go walking in or near the woods during the summertime (especially late June ot early August). These things make a walk in the woods miserable as they constantly dive-bomb your head - and if given a chance - will suck a copious amount of blood out of you by ripping open your skin with their jaws. Swatting these flies does not good. They just keep coming and coming. For several years now, I have been buying the TRED-NOT deer fly strips. You put the strips on the...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 7, 2006 – Spectators packed a four-mile stretch of beach and spilled into the street here to watch military and civilian air teams show their stuff yesterday. An estimated 1 million people crowded Fort Lauderdale Beach, Fla., May 6 and 7 for the 2006 McDonald's Air and Sea Show. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. For those who missed the McDonald's Air and Sea Show yesterday or want to see it again, the show is being repeated today. After a morning of power boat races and a beach invasion demonstration...

Black Flies Accused of Giving Tourism Black Eyes By Michael Butler, Executive Director, Tennessee Wildlife Federation A recent bill (SB3049/HB3513) filed by state Senator Steve Southerland and Representative Eddie Yokely would create a program through the University of Tennessee to control black flies on the Pigeon River in upper east Tennessee. Problem is it could end up controlling a lot more that just the flies. Most of us remember the Pigeon River as that famous river that used to flow through the smokys with a coffee color and no fish. That is, until the State of Tennessee threatened to sue...

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2006 – When Nova Radke's husband came back from Iraq with pieces of shrapnel embedded in his skin from head to toe, she needed help supporting him. Military funds allowed her to fly to her husband's bedside, but once there, she found she needed additional moral support. America Supports You member Peggy Baker, founder and president of Operation First Response, stands by her organization's booth to answer questions at the Washington Capitals' "Salute to the Military Night" Jan. 19. The organization provides aid to wounded servicemembers and their families. Photo by Paul X. Rutz  (Click photo for...

2/14/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- A high-flying prototype “Airman” is heading home after being deployed more than four years and flying 4,245 hours supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and the Combined Task Force-Horn of Africa. Global Hawk Air Vehicle No. 3 began its journey back home at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Feb. 10, and is expected to land there Feb. 16. This unmanned aerial vehicle, AV-3, first deployed as a prototype during the build-up for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2002. It returned to Edwards for a couple of months and then was recalled by U.S. Central...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2005 – Wounded servicemembers recuperating at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, look to doctors and nurses for their medical care. For creature comforts, they look to the skies. Terry Goforth is an American Airlines flight attendant who has been working troop transport flights - military chartered flights on commercial airlines into Kuwait since March 2003. Regular layovers in Frankfurt, Germany, allowed her to visit Landstuhl and learn of the needs of the wounded servicemembers there. Goforth said she asked volunteers at Landstuhl what the patients might like her to bring from the United States during her weekly...

AL ASAD, Iraq, Sept. 28, 2005 — For many people, doing two jobs at once is an unwelcome burden. For hard-charging Marines, it's a challenge and a chance to become better at both. Maj. Keith Couch, the acting commanding officer of Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 2 (Forward), is leading his squadron in war while simultaneously flying combat missions in Iraq, protecting Marines and soldiers with their boots in the sand. “Flying combat missions and commanding MWHS-2 work hand-in-hand,” said the native of Leslie County, Ky. “Commanding headquarters squadron, you have the advantage of getting a firsthand perspective of what is...

From left to right, Staff Sgt. Josie E. Harshe, flight engineer; Capt. Anita T. Mack, navigator; 1st Lt. Siobhan Couturier, pilot; Capt. Carol J. Mitchell, aircraft commander; and loadmasters Tech. Sgt. Sigrid M. Carrero-Perez and Senior Airman Ci Ci Alonzo, pause in the cargo bay of their C-130 for a group photo following their historic flight. U.S. Air Force photo First All-female Crew Flies Combat Mission A crew of six Airmen at a forward deployed location climbed aboard aC-130 Hercules together recently for the first time By U.S. Air Force Capt. Michael G. Johnson 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public...

Does someone have a right to live in squalor? Under New Hampshire law, the answer is yes — but only to a point. Two recent cases, in which town officials took action against homeowners in Warner and Andover, have garnered front-page headlines, and led some to ask why someone didn't step in earlier. But the reality is that New Hampshire's laws allow folks to pretty much live as they choose, so long as their lifestyle doesn't threaten their own health or that of others. Elliott Berry is a housing expert at New Hampshire Legal Assistance, which has represented homeowners in...

Millions of flies invade Sa Kaew villageSA KAEW, June 29 (TNA) – A plague of millions of flies has descended on a village in Thailand's eastern province of Sa Kaew, leading to fears of a public health problem. According to villagers in Nong Pa Mak, in Sa Kaew’s Wattana Nakhon district, the flies have invaded the entire village of 80 households. TNA reporters who visited the village yesterday were greeted by the sight of windows and doors shut fast against the invasion, while trees and buildings were black with the insects. A village resident, Mrs. Chansawang Srikul, told reporters that...

Preserve for endangered fly dedicated COLTON: A 150-acre field is set aside to help remove a barrier to building projects. 01:47 AM PDT on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 By JENNIFER BOWLES / The Press-Enterprise Calling it the wave of the future for endangered species protections, federal wildlife officials on Monday helped dedicate a 150-acre field in Colton as a permanent preserve for an endangered fly. Some developers who have been stymied by protections for the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly will buy credits to help manage the preserve so their projects can go forward. It is the first conservation bank for...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Yale University researchers say their study that used lasers to create remote-controlled fruit flies could lead to a better understanding of overeating and violence in humans. Using the lasers to stimulate specific brain cells, researchers say they were able to make the flies jump, walk, flap their wings and fly. Even headless flies took flight when researchers stimulated the correct neurons, according to the study, published in the April 7 issue of the journal Cell. Scientists say the study could ultimately help identify the cells associated with psychiatric disorders, overeating and aggressiveness. Biologists have long known...

Only in Pennsylvania would insect control stand a chance of becoming a significant issue in a gubernatorial campaign. Many political observers believe Republican state Sen. Jeff Piccola of Dauphin County will emerge as Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell's GOP challenger next year. Piccola's insect-related criticism of the proposed 2005-06 state budget that Rendell unveiled Wednesday leaves little doubt that he will seek the office. Piccola blasted Rendell over the planned elimination of the Department of Environmental Protection's $4.4 million black-fly control and suppression program. He strongly opposes ending state-financed spraying to reduce the summertime population of black flies -- more commonly...

Updated: 1:17 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2004LONDON - British scientists are developing a robot that will generate its own power by eating flies. The idea is to produce electricity by catching flies and digesting them in special fuel cells that will break down sugar in the insects' skeletons and release electrons that will drive an electric current.

I have to admit that the first sentence caught my eye. It's not often that you find a scientific article that begins, "Can relief from pain be a pleasure?" When I started reading, however, I soon discovered that this was not research in the long and honorable tradition of Kinsey. There wasn't a dominatrix to be found. No one dressed in leather. In fact there was no sex at all. You can imagine my relief. Instead of some lurid tale of domination and submission, the article was all about fruit flies - their pain, their pleasure and what neurological pathways...