Fly Brain

A fruit fly, with its brain on show. Watch its nervous system light up in real time as it sees through your camera, listens through your microphone and responds to touch and motion. What it senses • Wave a hand or finger in front of the camera and its optic lobes light up, each eye from its own side. • Talk, clap or play music and the hearing centre in its brain flares up. • Turn your phone and its balance organs light up. • Tap one of its legs and a signal runs up that leg's own nerve. Tap its body and it shudders. How it behaves • Talk to it, or make a loud noise, and its wings buzz. • Show it a strong colour, like a piece of fruit, and it sets off walking. • Move something suddenly in front of the camera and it freezes with caution. • Bring something quickly towards the camera and it gets frightened and tries to escape. • Leave it alone for a while and it stops to clean itself.…