Mystery solved as to why flies are so hard to catch.

Research produced by both Trinity College Dublin and the University of Edingburgh has shown that the way animals perceive the passage of time around them is linked to how active that animal is within its environment.  

In the past research has shown that the characteristics of an organism is limited by the size of its body and its metabolic rate. However, this more recent piece of research has also shown that an organisms ability to perceive its environment is equally important in limiting how well it can exploit its environment. 

For example, a species which is capable of quickly identifying a threat will be able to survive for much longer than one which is much slower at processing that sensory information. 

To explain this, researchers conducted experiments which found that the rate at which time is perceived varies dramatically between animals. Those who are much smaller and have much faster metabolic rates (e.g birds or flies) perceive much more information per unit of time, and therefore see time passing much more slowly than larger animals with slower metabolic rates (e.g the turtle). 

This information was gained through the use of a phenomenon called the critical flicker fusion frequency. This phenomenon determines how many flashes of light an organisms can perceive per second before the light source is perceived as constant. This is actually the principle behind things like television screens which produce a constant image through a series of flashing lights, but so quickly that we cannot perceive them individually, and instead see them as a constant image. 

This phenomenon is also used to explain how animals have varying perceptions of time, and shows that animals that we would expect to be agile and fast moving are able to see time at a much quicker rate. This also explains why flies are so hard to catch, as they can see your hand moving towards them in slow motion, making it easy for them move out of its way with ease. This could also shed some light on how Neo managed to dodge all those bullets in The Matrix. 

On the flip side of this, there are also some species of tiger beetle who's body moves much faster than its eyes can process and has to stop every now and then to take in the new surroundings that its charged itself into. 

This information isn't only important for the information that we can gain from the complexities of the animals around us, but could have have some implications in human biology in the future. 

At the moment, the limit of a humans sensory perception is being pushed by people like Lewis Hamilton. When driving an F1 car, Lewis is moving at pretty much the limit of his biological abilities. If he were to move any faster his eyes wouldn't be able to take in his environment in enough time for him to react, which probably wouldn't result in a very pretty scenario. 

The only way for us to push ourselves past these limits would be either through drugs, which don't exist yet,  or the adaptation of our eyes at a cellular level. This might seem pretty unlikely but who knows, one day we could all be dodging bullets and trying to prevent the destruction of Zion. 

What do you think about this research? Comment below with your thoughts and questions and don't forget to +1 this article if you enjoyed it. 

If you're particularly interested in this research you can find the original research article here.