sciencedaily.com: Scientists Discover Why Flies Are So Hard To Swat

ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2008) — Over the past two decades, Michael Dickinson has been interviewed by reporters hundreds of times about his research on the biomechanics of insect flight. One question from the press has always dogged him: Why are flies so hard to swat?

"Now I can finally answer," says Dickinson, the Esther M. and Abe M. Zarem Professor of Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Using high-resolution, high-speed digital imaging of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) faced with a looming swatter, Dickinson and graduate student Gwyneth Card have determined the secret to a fly's evasive maneuvering. Long before the fly leaps, its tiny brain calculates the location of the impending threat, comes up with an escape plan, and places its legs in an optimal position to hop out of the way in the opposite direction. All of this action takes place within about 100 milliseconds after the fly first spots the swatter.

"This illustrates how rapidly the fly's brain can process sensory information into an appropriate motor response," Dickinson says.

For example, the videos showed that if the descending swatter--actually, a 14-centimeter-diameter black disk, dropping at a 50-degree angle toward a fly standing at the center of a small platform--comes from in front of the fly, the fly moves its middle legs forward and leans back, then raises and extends its legs to push off backward. When the threat comes from the back, however, the fly (which has a nearly 360-degree field of view and can see behind itself) moves its middle legs a tiny bit backwards. With a threat from the side, the fly keeps its middle legs stationary, but leans its whole body in the opposite direction before it jumps.

"We also found that when the fly makes planning movements prior to take-off, it takes into account its body position at the time it first sees the threat," Dickinson says. "When it first notices an approaching threat, a fly's body might be in any sort of posture depending on what it was doing at the time, like grooming, feeding, walking, or courting. Our experiments showed that the fly somehow 'knows' whether it needs to make large or small postural changes to reach the correct preflight posture. This means that the fly must integrate visual information from its eyes, which tell it where the threat is approaching from, with mechanosensory information from its legs, which tells it how to move to reach the proper preflight pose."

The results offer new insight into the fly nervous system, and suggest that within the fly brain there is a map in which the position of the looming threat "is transformed into an appropriate pattern of leg and body motion prior to take off," Dickinson says. "This is a rather sophisticated sensory-to-motor transformation and the search is on to find the place in the brain where this happens," he says.

Dickinson's research also suggests an optimal method for actually swatting a fly. "It is best not to swat at the fly's starting position, but rather to aim a bit forward of that to anticipate where the fly is going to jump when it first sees your swatter," he says.

The paper, "Visually Mediated Motor Planning in the Escape Response of Drosophila," will be published August 28 in the journal Current Biology.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

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WSJ.com: CIA Curtails Contract With U.S. Security Firm in Iraq

One of the companies I use to work for is in the news:

MVM Inc., one of the biggest security contractors used by U.S. intelligence agencies, has lost the bulk of a Central Intelligence Agency contract in Iraq after failing to provide enough armed guards, according to company emails and contractors familiar with the decision.

The loss of the CIA contract, which was potentially worth more than $1 billion over five years, is a big blow to closely held MVM, based in Vienna, Va. Overseas work for U.S. intelligence agencies represents a third of the company's $200 million in annual revenue and is believed to be one of the fastest-growing areas of the contracting business.

Intelligence officers needing protective services are likely to remain in Iraq even after U.S. troops leave, so demand for such services will continue or possibly increase. The CIA's largest foreign station is in Baghdad, with hundreds of officers estimated to be based there. The loss of the contract will likely hurt MVM's chances of winning further work with the agency.

"We are disappointed to announce that the client has not chosen MVM Inc.," Rob Whitfield, who manages MVM's CIA work, wrote to the company's pool of guards on Aug. 22, according to a copy of the email viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

MVM declined to respond to specific questions. In a written statement, the company said it has an "outstanding performance history" working in dangerous regions and it has never failed to "secure any personnel or facilities that we have been contracted to protect." The company also said that it is "fully compliant with all of the contractual obligations of our diverse client base."

A CIA spokesman said the agency doesn't comment on contracting decisions.

MVM's performance on the CIA contract, known as Panther, was the subject of a Page One article in the Journal last month. The article also discussed alleged problems with a related National Security Agency contract, dubbed Scorpion, which provides guards for NSA employees overseas.

The article detailed allegations from a former MVM guard who said his teammates fabricated an after-action report about a November 2004 shooting incident to cover up their errors. Other contractors detailed problems in areas such as staffing and equipment.

In the article, MVM Chief Executive Dario Marquez said the government had been satisfied with MVM's work. "We have a great working relationship with both these clients," he said in an interview for the article, referring to the CIA and NSA.

The NSA has begun probing the allegations, according to a former MVM manager familiar with the inquiry, including sending an official to Baghdad last month to interview contractors employed by MVM at the time. An NSA spokesman said the agency had no information to provide on the inquiry or the contract.

The CIA's Panther contract with MVM was to protect CIA officers in Iraq. MVM will retain a small portion responsible for guarding CIA facilities and will continue to provide a handful of mobile guards at two sites whose locations are classified, but which aren't in Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan, according to Mr. Whitfield's email.

The CIA awarded the more profitable work-protecting officers traveling around the country to a Nevada company, SOC Inc. SOC has been providing logistical support such as food services and electricity to the CIA in war zones.

SOC didn't respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. relies on contractors throughout the intelligence community, though few are sent overseas. According to a recent report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, about 5% of the estimated 37,000 contracted intelligence personnel work overseas.

Overall, about 70% of the total intelligence budget, including electricity, is outsourced; some 27% of the total amount is spent on people doing core work, such as those with specific skills such as languages.

According to several former MVM managers, MVM was regularly 10 to 15 guards short of the 100 or so it promised. The lack of guards required the agency to postpone missions, one former manager said.

Guards working on Panther were frustrated with MVM's management and pay and many decided to sign on with SOC, which promised $715 a day, compared with $630 MVM offered, according to a contractor familiar with the situation.

MVM's Mr. Whitfield said in the email that the company "would have provided the most positive working environment for the independent contractors in the field."

MVM plans to pursue "other opportunities" with CIA, Mr. Whitfield added.

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The Associated Press: Egypt parliament fire fuels scorn of government

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — A fire that gutted the upper house of parliament this week has fueled Egyptians' scorn for their authoritarian government, with critics saying it is unable to protect its own buildings and maintain basic infrastructure.

Firefighters appeared ineffectual Tuesday as they battled the blaze raging through the top floors of the 19th-century palace that houses the Shoura Council. Dozens of fire trucks rushed to the scene, but at least in the early hours, only a few sprayed water on it. Firefighters mainly stayed outside, while the flames spread and ravaged the interior.

Army helicopters dropped buckets of water from the nearby Nile River, but were seen to often miss the building. They did get enough water on it to collapse part of the roof, with little effect on the fire. It took 18 hours to extinguish the blaze.

One firefighter was killed and a dozen were injured.

Interior Minister Habib el-Adly ruled out arson or terrorism. Initial reports said the blaze was sparked by a short-circuit in an air conditioning unit. The fire recalled a string of past accidents that were thought to have been caused or exacerbated by negligence.

In 2006, a ferry crossing the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia sank, killing more than 1,000 Egyptians. A parliamentary investigation found the ferry had been allowed to operate while failing to meet minimum safety requirements and both the company and government were criticized for failing to respond quickly to the sinking.

The acquittal of the ferry's owner on negligence charges last month raised an outcry that authorities were protecting the wealthy businessman.

In 2002, a fire destroyed a train in southern Egypt, killing 370 people, mostly poor passengers in third-class cars, and there have been several deadly train collisions since.

"It's the same confusion, the same accusations (of negligence) and the same denial," columnist Magdy el-Galad wrote Thursday in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, comparing the parliament blaze to the earlier disasters.

Ibrahim Eissa, editor of opposition Al-Dustour daily, criticized the "deterioration of our system, which has become incapable of protecting even its buildings from fire and disasters." The opposition Al-Wafd daily called for those responsible for the fire to be put on trial.

The government of President Hosni Mubarak has already faced discontent this year with a series of labor strikes and riots over shortages of subsidized bread, a staple of Egypt's largely impoverished population. Fights in long bread lines caused several deaths.

The fire gutted the interiors of the top two floors of the palace, destroying Islamic decorations and the main hall where the Shoura Council holds its sessions. The hall holds great symbolic weight for Egyptians because it was the scene of the 1881 trial of nationalist hero Ahmed Urabi and the signing of the first constitution in 1923.

Media reports have focused on poor training of firefighters and the absence of sprinklers or a fire management plan for the building. Those features are rare throughout Egypt, where safety rules are nonexistent or lax. Few buildings in Cairo even have smoke alarms.

Sami Mahran, parliament's secretary-general, said the building did have fire alarms, which went off, and "parliament's internal fire department hurried to control it." He and other officials told The Associated Press the fire moved quickly, fed by the wooden paneling and ceilings, many carpets and a new paint job.

Egyptians are widely skeptical of parliament, which is seen as a rubber stamp for Mubarak's government. And unlike earlier deadly disasters, few Egyptians seemed to mourn the destruction.

"I'm just sorry parliament wasn't in session," one man told The Associated Press Tuesday night as he watched the blaze, refusing to give his name for fear of trouble with authorities.

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lifeinthefastlane.ca: 10 Most Incredible Ancient Oases in the World

Bahariya Oasis

El-Waha, el-Bahariya, or Bahariya (meaning the “northern oasis”) is an oasis in Egypt about 300 miles (500 kilometers) from Cairo, set in the lowest point in Egypt in a depression covering over 1250 sq. miles (2000 sq. kilometers), and the least technologically advanced Oasis in the country.

The Bahariya Oasis and much of today’s Libyan Desert was once the floor of an immense ocean, but since approximately 3,000 BC to now, very little rainfall graces the area, so groundwater is its life blood.

Most of the villages and cultivated land can be seen from the top of the 165 foot (50 meter) high Jebel al-Mi’ysrah, along with the massive dunes which threaten to engulf some of the older settlements.

Link to the other 9 Most Incredible Ancient Oases in the World.

pinke.biz: The Worst Gay Travel Destinations in the World

4. Egypt

Who wouldn’t want to go to Egypt? It’s got the relics of the most advanced civilization in ancient times, the Pyramids, the Nile and of course Cairo. Plus you can really get that authentic Egyptian experience by getting arrested and thrown in jail for being a homosexual. Bonus points and extra jail time if you’re HIV+! Unless jail, after a beating from the notoriously violent local police force of course, sounds like fun for the whole family for you then it’d be best to keep as far away as possible from Egypt as you can. The US State department has issued several official warnings about gay tourists traveling to the country –as they have about all the countries on this list incidentally- and Egypt has been busy recently tossing HIV+ citizens in jail with only the merest hint of a trial for the past few months. It’s ok though, several years in jail oughta teach them not to get AIDS or be gay. As every prison movie tells us, jail is the best place to go to avoid any type of homosexuality. That and the Navy. All kidding aside, do not go around announcing your sexuality in Egypt. Yes, there are gay bars in Cairo. That does not mean homosexuality is tolerated. Be very careful.

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One Year

It's our 'anniversary' as we arrived in Cairo one year ago today. But I don't think we're going to stick out another.

A bit of an update: Today I was out washing the previous months accumulation of dirt and dust off the garden furniture with Nabil (our gardener) and Hanan (our cleaning lady) and mentioned that today is our anniversary which they both said "Hababababad". At least Hanan did as she doesn't speak english and it sounded like "hababababad" to me with my keen grasp of Arabic. Nabil, who speaks quite good english said "congratulations" and all that, I wasn't expecting anything more than that really, I was just making my usual noises as we were turning the last months dirt and dust into todays mud. But this evening the doorbell rang as we were finishing dinner and Hanan was at the door, with a cake for us. We were a bit taken aback as it was almost 2000 and she had to have walked home after she finished work at another house she does in the afternoons, fed her family, gone to the baker and walked all the way back to our house with this quite nice cake to congratulate us. We just thought that was nice of her. And it makes me more than a little embarrassed about all the bitching and moaning I do about this place.

Michael Poliza Photography

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Omar's Travel Impressions: Turkey and Switzerland--an unlikely combination

My uncle has joined blogspot and posted his and my aunts latest adventure:

We checked in and at 6 PM attended the Road Scholar welcome. Our guide was Sami, who talked a lot, said most things two or three times, and only occasionally mispronounced a word. I had a glass of the local wine, which tasted much like ouzo, and gave quite a kick. We socialized with the others (seven other couples); I had brought my book along, but Sami didn’t believe in introductory introductions, let alone name badges, so I put it in my belt. During his talk, Sami explained that no one in Turkey drank the tap water; there were so many chemicals in the water that it tasted very bad. He said there were about 1.25 lira per dollar and that we would need lira to buy water, wine, beer, etc. Liquor and gas were taxed very high; petrol was the most expensive in the world.

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Alpha

Our compounds guard dog.

BBC News: Kicking Yemen's qat habit

Chewing qat leaves is bad for Yemen's economy and public health, says its government. But, as Stephanie Hancock found, curbing this national pastime is an uphill task.

I had only been in the country a few minutes when I noticed a man with a gigantic growth bulging out of his cheek. The swelling was enormous, it was so bulbous it practically had its own heartbeat.

Qat chewing is a national pastime for the people of Yemen

Now I have been brought up not to stare but, feeling slightly guilty, I kept sneaking glances at this unfortunate fellow.

What an awful disease, I thought to myself and how nice that other people are not staring at him, unlike me.

I wondered whether the growth might be a tumour, or perhaps some sort of thyroid problem.

I did not want to seem rude but I quietly asked my guide, Ahmed, if perhaps this man was ill.

Ahmed, in his nonchalant manner, turned to look at the man, and gave a small laugh that suggested I was very stupid.

"Ha! That's qat," he said.

And so it was that I discovered the substance that makes Yemen tick.

Qat is a flowering plant that grows all over the Arabian peninsula, and when you chew the leaves it acts as a mild stimulant. The habit is known as qat chewing, but this is a misnomer as the teeth are not actually really involved.

The aim appears to be to stuff as many leaves as you can possibly fit into one cheek, until you resemble a lop-sided hamster, and then sort of suck on the juices.

After a while a green foamy paste forms at your lips, and at this point, conversation is now impossible. Any important information must be communicated via grunting and pointing.

To say qat is popular in Yemen would be a massive under-statement, practically everybody in this country chews qat, two thirds of men and a third of women.

It is not elitist either, everyone from businessmen to street urchins like to indulge. Apart from a few hard-core fans, most people seem to start up after lunch, and the chewing will often go on late into the night.

Relaxation aid

Some people chew to give them energy to work others use it for relaxation. It is a common sight here to see men flaked out on pavements, gazing absent mindedly into the distance, giving total concentration to the chewing task at hand.

Qat is an integral part of life here in Yemen, but these days the government is becoming concerned about its effects and this week sounded alarm bells about qat's grip on the country.

The man behind the warning is Yemen's planning minister Abdulkarim al-Arhabi. I went to meet him in his office, where he patiently explained all the many ills qat is responsible for.

For starters, there are the health effects such as mouth cancer, he said, which is on the rise because farmers are using more insecticide.

Farmers are also now choosing to grow water-thirsty qat instead of food crops, he said, because it consistently fetches high prices.

Economic drain

The result is a major drain on water in a country suffering drought and a growing reliance on foreign food imports at a time when staple goods are more expensive than ever.

Then there is the effect on productivity, he added, with all those young people sitting around chewing qat when they could be working.

Critics of the government point out that one in three Yemenis is unemployed and chewing qat is a simple way to pass the day and keeps them away from alcohol and harder drugs.

Later I went for a look round Sanaa's lively qat market, and it is amazing to see how much money changes hands, especially for the high quality blends which can cost up to £10 a bag, and that will only last you one afternoon.

It made me realise that qat is a big part of the economy here.

My guide Ahmed, whose mood was always intimately linked to the size of the bulge in his cheek, is suspicious of the government's fighting talk over qat. "The government needs qat," he told me with a mouthful of green leaves. "It says it wants to stop it, but it earns lots of money from all the taxes farmers pay.

"Besides," he added, his voice dropping to a gurgled whisper, "when people are chewing qat, they don't ask awkward questions about where Yemen's oil revenues are going."

Nobody knows what would happen if qat was taken away

And with this he hit the nail firmly on the head. Yemen has recently suffered from riots, when angry young men, unable to find work, rose up against the government.

Poverty and corruption, a faltering economy and unemployment all linked and all related in some way back to qat.

It might be causing problems for this country, but nobody is quite sure what would happen if you took qat away.

As one trader told me as he hawked his goods for sale in the market: "Qat is the key to peace in Yemen. Nobody would be stupid enough to meddle with that."

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