h a l f b a k e r yI didn't say you were on to something, I said you were on something.
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Flies are complicated but energy-efficient.
A spring-like device made of a protein
called resilin allows their tiny wings to
oscillate to and fro efficiently at their
resonant frequency.
Resonance is very efficient: you can push
a child on a swing with very little effort if
you time
your pushes just right; likewise,
the fly can fly with relatively little effort by
matching its muscular contractions to the
resonanant frequency of its resilin-sprung
wings.
But resonance can also be easily
disrupted: push the swing just slightly out
of phase, and its motion will be sapped
and will fade away.
Where is all this leading us? Take one
sensitive directional microphone, some
cunning software to detect and then shift
the phase of the received sound, and a
directional speaker system to reproduce
the phase-shifted sound and play it back
in the direction it came from.
Aim the apparatus at an annoying
bluebottle. The slightly-out-of-phase
sound waves will gradually sap energy
from the fly's wings, and it will fall to the
floor exhausted and bewilderfused, where
it can be swatted at your convenience.
The entire package is conveniently
embodied in a pistol-like device. Brought
to you by Max Industries.
[link]
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I'm assuming some dwell time required between target acquisition and "exhausted and bewilderfused" state. |
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Holding on a moving target with a pistol for more than a few seconds may be a problem. Maybe not if area of effect is adaquate. Is there an alternative? |
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I like to use a squirtgun to hunt flies. This would much more high-tech. [+] |
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[Norm'z one] I think we have two things
going for us
here. |
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a) Neither the microphone nor the
speaker will be tightly directional, so
the tracking needn't be perfect. |
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b) A pistol embodiment will help in
tracking the fly. It may be a challenge,
but so much the better. |
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c) Flies operate in the hundreds of
Hertz. Hence, signal acquisition is
likely to take at most a few tenths of a
second. |
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d) By the same token, resonant motion
damping is likely to be fairly fast - I'm
guessing a few hundred wing beats, or
on the order of a second. |
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To bring down a golden eagle with this
technology would, for obvious reasons,
be trickier. |
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I'm a friend of the humble fly,,,, but I do
have a rug for those who hunt anything. |
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A bun for 'bewilderfused'. [+] |
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I want one for hornets. (+) with a laser sight. |
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"Bewilderfused" - that's conwildering, but I like it. |
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However, a slightly out of phase sound at your pistol does not mean a slightly out of phase sound at Mr.Bottle. |
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have to be some sort of tai chi master to use the thing. |
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Also, My guess is that flys can shift their frequency to line up with resonance, not what was resonance. They are themselves some very cunning software. |
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The adventures of Speed engineer and Resonance Boy, is an idea that has crossed my mind a few times. |
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A squirtgun to hunt wasps is viable in colder weather. they get colder and the water hanging off of them makes them fall. Highly effective with a super soaker. |
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//a slightly out of phase sound at your
pistol does not mean a slightly out of
phase sound at Mr.Bottle// So, we
include ultrasonic pulses in the emitted
sound, and measure the range by
echolocation. To distinguish the fly
from the background, we look for
Doppler effects on the ultrasound,
where those Doppler effects shift with
the same frequency as the buzzing
sound. Hence, we now have precise
range information and can compensate
the phase-shifting accordingly. |
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//My guess is that flies can shift their
frequency to line up with resonance, not
what was resonance// I don't think flies
will have encountered a resonance
weapon before, so I doubt their
software will handle it. It certainly
ought to throw them off balance. If
needs be, we can do something that
involves stochastic fractals, obviously. |
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There's no flies on [MaxwellBuchanan] |
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Well, whatever you do, don't ever, ever, ever cross the anti-resonance stochastic fractal streams. |
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Hi Mr. Spoon, have been missing you! |
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Well, he's been on Button Moon. |
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What the bewilderfused glowing tramp said, [+] |
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It should work for mosquitos too. Presumably if you start off at the fly's resonant frequency and then gradually increase your 'driving' frequency, you'd be able to force the fly to operate at higher and higher frequencies until it explodes. |
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//I'm with 2fries though in wanting one
for wasps// I think (along the same
lines as Hippo) that one size should fit
all. |
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I am quadruply intrigued by the
prospect of upspeeding the wingbeats
by resonance. I'm not sure it would
work, alas. But if it did, then a low-
frequency version of the system might
be capable of getting chickens, and
even penguins, startlingly airborne.
(Maybe not, though - they don't use
spring-like resonances in their wing
mechanisms.) |
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However, a more advanced version of
the system making use of standing
waves and complex phasing ought even
to be able to steer insects quite
precisely. You would then, in effect,
have a remote control unit for
bluebottles. |
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//Presumably if you start off at the fly's resonant frequency and then gradually increase your 'driving' frequency, you'd be able to force the fly to operate at higher and higher frequencies until it explodes.// |
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Ah, the pleasant bzzzzZZZZZWWWWWVVVVVVVEEEP! *pop*s of summer... |
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Need one for mosquitoes! Bun as well for
using "bewilderfused". + |
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Flys are highly adaptable. The more times you try to swat a fly the better at evading they become. |
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I think you have hit on a moment of Brilliance working with a cooperative creature. A chicken might just want to work with you to be able to fly. |
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One thing that might be something to research out that I heard once in passing is that noise cancellation equiptment makes up for powering the speakers by increased machine efficiency. My guess is that the most you can contribute to the flying ability is the inefficiency that is lost in making sound. If chickens are really noisy it just might work. |
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I don't doubt that you could help out more than the noise energy lost. I am at the moment in over my head. I am just remembering that technically their weight is at all times supported by their wings. Chickens would probably have a limit before they wear out no matter how favorable the sound. |
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Well i'm a human fly
it's spelt F-L-Y
I say buzz,buzz,buzz,and it's just becuzz...
I'm a human fly and i don't know why
I got ninety six tears in my ninety six eyes
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I got a garbage brain,it's drivin' me insane
And i don't like your ride,so push that pesticide
And baby i won't care,cuz baby i don't scare
Cuz i'm a reborn maggot using germ warfare
Rockin'....zzzzz
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I'm a human fly
It's spelt F-L-Y
I say buzz,buzz,buzz,and it's just becuzz...
I'm a unzipped fly and i don't know why
and i don't know,but i say
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buzz...ride tonight
and i say buzz...rocket ride
And i say buzz...i don't know why
I don know i Just don't know why?
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//My guess is that the most you can
contribute to the flying ability is the
inefficiency that is lost in making sound.//
Not necessarily - you are talking about
putting sound energy in, but the sound
can be very loud (much greater than the
output sound). But even so, it might work
with resonance. |
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//My guess is that the most you can
contribute to the flying ability is the
inefficiency that is lost in making
sound.// Not necessarily - you are
talking about putting sound energy in,
but the sound can be very loud (much
greater than the output sound). And in
any event, a small input at the resonant
frequency might have a significant
effect. |
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Sadly, though, chickens do not rely
much on elastic resonance of their
wings, and hence there will be little
chance of this working. Not sure about
penguins - I'm waiting to get one for
tests. |
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Record the fly with a cassette deck, and play the sound back slightly out of tune. Energy will be lost through the Beating effect. |
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//Record the fly with a cassette deck, and
play the sound back slightly out of tune.//
You mean some kind of slightly-out-of-
phase resonance? Damn - why didn't I
think of that? |
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Next: a type of fly specially trained to carry
a blob of resin, and to seek out ants and
use the resin to glue them to the floor. It'll
be called the resin-fly ant immobiliser. |
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When I read the title I thought it was something you aimed at the crotch of your pants. |
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Max Industries can accept no liability for
any injury, however amusing,
sustained through inappropriate
utilificition of this product. |
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I like this idea. I tried to make a device to amplify a fly's resonance frequency, therefore seriously screwing it up. It didn't work. Still, I do not have the resources needed to make it work, so the theory is unflawed. |
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That philosophy sounds familiar. Do you work for my engineering department? |
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