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METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260812T093958Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20130401T203824Z
DTSTART:20130409T193000Z
DTEND:20130409T203000Z
UID:event974@bu.edu
URL:http://physics.bu.edu/internal/events/show/974
SUMMARY:Flight of the Fruit Fly
DESCRIPTION:Featuring Itai Cohen\, Cornell University\nHosted by: David Bis
	hop\nPoster: http://physics.bu.edu/posters/2013_Spring/10_Cohen.pdf\n\nPart
	 of the Physics Department Colloquia Series.\n\nAbstract: There comes a tim
	e in each of our lives where we grab a thick section of the morning paper\,
	 roll it up and set off to do battle with one of nature’s most accomplish
	ed aviators - the fly. If however\, instead of swatting we could magnify ou
	r view and experience the world in slow motion we would be privy to a world
	-class ballet full of graceful figure-eight wing strokes\, effortless pirou
	ettes\, and astonishing acrobatics. After watching such a magnificent displ
	ay\, who among us could destroy this virtuoso? How do flies produce acrobat
	ic maneuvers with such precision? What control mechanisms do they need to m
	aneuver? More abstractly\, what problem are they solving as they fly? Despi
	te pioneering studies of flight control in tethered insects\, robotic wing 
	experiments\, and fluid dynamics simulations that have revealed basic mecha
	nisms for unsteady force generation during steady flight\, the answers to t
	hese questions remain elusive. In this talk I will discuss our strategy for
	 investigating these unanswered questions. I will begin by describing our a
	utomated apparatus for recording the free flight of fruit flies and our tec
	hnique called Hull Reconstruction Motion Tracking (HRMT) for backing out th
	e wing and body kinematics. I will then show that these techniques can be u
	sed to reveal the underlying mechanisms for flight maneuvers\, wing actuati
	on\, and flight stability. Finally\, I will comment on the implications of 
	these discoveries for investigations aimed at elucidating the evolution of 
	flight.
LOCATION:SCI 109\, 590 Commonwealth Avenue\, 02215
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CLASS:PUBLIC
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