How fruit flies chase invisible ribbons of smell to get to their source
A fruit fly hunting a piece of rotting fruit or a mate navigates by smell, following plumes of odor. Out in the wild, turbulent air swirls these plumes into a chaotic, broken landscape - dense chemical filaments laced through long stretches of clean air. A fly trying to find the source gets the smell in stutters, from constantly shifting directions, with no guarantee that a next whiff is coming at all. Scientist had little idea of how fruit flies manage this chaotic signal with a brain the size
The science section covers breakthroughs in medicine, physics, biology, and technology. We surface discoveries that expand what humanity can do, from new treatments reaching clinical trials to engineering feats that seemed impossible a decade ago. Every link goes to the original publisher so you can read the full study or press release yourself.
Rivers are how plastic gets to the ocean. Stop it there, and you stop it for good. The Great Bubble Barrier, a Dutch com…
Six years ago, fewer than one in six rural homes in India had a tap water connection. As of mid-July, more than four in …
The sustainable fashion industry has spent years trying to reduce harm: less water, fewer synthetic chemicals, more recy…
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 3 - … Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Dis…