Researchers compare insect’s vision to the Matrix

We hope to discourage them from rebelling against the system.

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The summer season of buzzing flies may have come to a close, but now we can understand why the pesky insects are so hard to swat away. They live in a real life matrix.

New research, done in part by scientists from the University of St. Andrews, provides evidence that organisms with quicker metabolisms process sights faster, which means that the world actually seems slower and they may be drawn to rise up against the machine (we’re extrapolating on the last bit).

The study found that critical flicker fusion frequency, or how fast the eye takes in flashes of light, is accelerated in small animals such as insects and birds. It also means larger, slower animals such as sea turtles and humans are more likely to miss rapid movements.

Dr. Luke McNally from the University of Edinburgh explains, “[For the fly] it feels like you are moving so slowly towards them. It’s the same as the famous bullet-time scene where the bullets are moving at this incredibly slow rate (as far as Keanu is concerned).”