Quick getaway: How flies escape looming predators

(Howard Hughes Medical Institute) When a fruit fly detects an approaching predator, the fly can launch itself into the air and soar gracefully to safety in a fraction of a second. But there's not always time for that. Some threats demand a quicker getaway. New research from scientists at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus reveals how a quick-escape circuit in the fly's brain overrides the fly's slower, more controlled behavior when a threat becomes urgent.