/oss/taxonomy/term/2306/all en /oss/article/you-asked-general-science/there-safer-time-fly <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/is-there-a-safer-time-to-fly/">The Skeptical Inquirer.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>Flying in an airplane is incredibly safe despite what our anxieties and fears might tell us. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), aviation has become the first ultra-safe transportation system in history. That means that for every ten million cycles (one cycle involves both a takeoff and landing), there is less than one catastrophic failure.</p> Fri, 26 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Ada McVean M.Sc. 9515 at /oss /oss/article/history-general-science/how-come-you-never-see-baby-housefly <p>Simple. Because baby houseflies don’t exist. A little backgrounder on the flies’ reproductive cycle can clear up this apparent conundrum. Within a week of mating, a doggie-style activity lasting from a few seconds to several minutes, not unlike humans, a female fly will lay an average of 120 eggs. Nice warm manure is preferred. Then in roughly 12 days, the eggs develop into larvae, then into maggots, and then into pupae from which flies emerge fully grown. That’s why you will never see a baby fly!</p> Fri, 16 Jul 2021 22:03:34 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8787 at /oss /oss/article/environment-general-science/fly-wall <p>How many times have you heard the expression, “if only I could be a fly on that wall?” But how do flies walk up walls and across ceilings? At the Marine Science Laboratory in North Wales scientists have spent a lot of time watching flies walk up a wall. No, the scientists are not bored. Quite the opposite. They’re very interested in finding out how the flies appear to defy gravity and stick to the wall. Why? Because any insight into zygology can have very important practical applications. And what is zygology? It is the science of joining things together.</p> Fri, 18 Sep 2020 19:56:56 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8413 at /oss /oss/article/history-you-asked/why-do-you-never-see-baby-housefly <p>Because baby houseflies don’t exist. A little backgrounder on the flies’ reproductive cycle can clear up this seeming conundrum. Within a week of mating, a doggie-style activity lasting from a few seconds to several minutes (not unlike humans), a female fly will lay an average of 120 eggs. She prefers to deposit her potential offspring in nice warm manure. Then in roughly 12 days the eggs develop into larvae, then into maggots, and then into pupae from which flies emerge fully grown. That’s why you will never see a baby fly!</p> Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:26:56 +0000 Joe Schwarcz 1584 at /oss