There have been a few house flies in my office and kitchen in the last few weeks. They fly at my face, or land on my hands. I rage. I’ve been killing them with rolled up magazines.

Then, it crossed my mind that these little beasts are probably amazing. Sure enough, a researcher in North Carolina spent a couple years painstakingly capturing slo-mo footage of flies he found in his area, and it’s captivating! Some points that grabbed me:

  • Flies all have a set of gyroscopic wings behind their main wings.
  • Many of the flies stick their front legs out in front of their head, in the Superman pose!
  • The are many categories of flies of which only a fraction have been scientifically described.
  • The larvae that get airborne with no legs or wings. Pop!

Just try watching this video without getting to the end.