I read the article “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings,” by James Gorman. This article talked about how researchers at Cornell investigated the paths fly wings go through when faced with environmental disturbances, such as the wind. These researchers “glue tiny magnets to the flies and use a magnetic pulse to pull them this way or that,” which enables them to control the wind-like force in the the lab. Three cameras were then set up to observe the flies from different angles, and the data collected was reconstructed so it could be analyzed. Leading scientist on the project, Dr. Cohen, said that they found “within three wing beats that sucker has recovered completely.” Flies are able to right their path of flight so quickly because at the base of each of their wings is a bundle of neurons, part of the haltere system, that are able to instantly calculate the change needed to be made and to execute it almost as quickly.
This is significant because it gives us a better understanding of how flies and possibly other animals re-adjust to environmental factors. It’s also interesting to see the many ways the complicated patterns and logic of calculus are essential and built into different parts of nature. Most importantly, Gorman says that the “math the neurons in the haltere system use is something for neuroscientists to investigate further.” He says that we could possibly use our understandings of the flies’s neurons in human neuroscience.
I would have liked if the author had gone into more detail about the importance of the research to the world and into how exactly this is important to neuroscience researchers. It would have been nice to know more about the study, and specifically what prompted researchers to investigate this behavior in flies and more details about the study. However, as is, this article was interesting and I learned more about the frequency calculus, which I think of as man-made, is found in nature.
Gorman, James. "Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/
I read Morgan Taylor’s review of the article, “Flies that do Calculus with their Wings” by James Gorman. I really liked how Morgan gave a clear explanation of the topic which allowed me to understand what the article was about. I also appreciated how Morgan included a connection to the human body when she described how the research in fly neuroscience could possibly connect to human neuroscience research. Finally, I enjoyed the specific quotes within the article that made it much more interesting and relatable.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Morgan did a great job overall, I wish that she could have gone into more detail about the mathematical parts of “Fly Wing” calculus because that was the part I was most interested in. Additionally, I also wish I could have learned more about the neuroscience aspect of it, and how that connects with human neuroscience aside from the fact that it does connect.
This article is relevant to society today because it is an instance where nature and mathematics connect. As mathematicians discover more and more patterns in math, there will be more patterns to be found in nature. Additionally, human neuroscience is a relatively untouched field. Hopefully, this experiment will shed some light on the subject in the future.
I read Morgan Taylor’s current events report on the article, “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings,” by James Gorman. Morgan did a great job summarizing and explaining what Gorman discussed in his article, incorporating quotes from both the author and scientists who performed the study on the flies. Despite a lack of clear evidence given for the global impact of these experiments in the original article, Morgan was able to infer and think of her own ideas regarding how the rapid reaction times for flies plays a role in our society. The quotes that Morgan decided to incorporate were also very helpful in understanding the information being presented and in formulating a comprehensive review of the article.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Morgan did many really good things while writing her review, there are a few things she could have improved on. While the quotes that she chose were helpful, some of the tenses and wording did not match with her own writing very well, so some further editing and reincorporating would have been nice to see. She also could have added a little more detail to her summary of the article, as it felt that the concepts were rushed and sometimes disconnected. Still, even without these minor improvements, Morgan did a great job reviewing her current events article.
I found the topic of this article to be very interesting and important to our society. The concept of a fly being able to regain its control after just three wing beats is hard to imagine, especially since the fly’s wings move as such a rapid rate. The connection between math and science furthers the importance of this topic, creating a bridge from two topics that can often be separated in one’s mind. The connection of this experiment to neuroscience will prove to be very important in the future, and I look forward to seeing the implications of this scientific study.
My peer, Morgan Taylor, did a fantastic job reviewing the interesting article, “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings”. One thing I think she did very well was relating the information from the article to the world and how it affects us. Since there was not much relation to the real world in the original article, I think she did a good job doing that on her own. Another thing I think she did particularly well was the incorporation of quotes from the original article. This helped bring the reader in and get a good sense of how the article was written. A final thing I think she did very well was the prompting of new questions about the article. For example, she wishes that the writer went into more detail about why the investigation was launched and what prompted the researchers to study flies in such a specific manor.
ReplyDeleteAlthough she did a great job, there were a few things she could have improved upon. One thing she could have made better was giving a more detailed explanation on why the flies correcting their flight path is considered calculus. While this is difficult to do, I thought a little more elaborate of an explanation would have been nice. Another thing I think she could have improved upon was giving an quick and concise explanation of what calculus is; for readers who do not know. I thought the understanding of calculus was essential to the overall understanding of the article and the review, so a quick explanation would have been a strong addition.
I thought the article and the review were very interesting and I certainly learned a lot. Being that I am taking a calculus course in school at the moment, I thought that this article related to me in many ways. I was very impressed by this.
After reading Morgan Taylor’s review of the article “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings,” I now know a lot more about what fly wings do when faced with environmental disturbances, such as the wind. Morgan did a very good job of briefly explaining the experiment that the scientists did, however, also giving enough information so the reader can understand the procedure done to observe the flies’ response to environmental differences. Adding a quote by Dr. Cohen about the results of the research also enhanced the review and added to my understanding of the topic. The small fact that the flies could recalculate their path of flight in three wing beats after changing the amount of wind really helps the reader grasp the intelligence of the fly in controlling it’s wings. Finally, I think Morgan also did an effective job of explaining why this information is important and I liked how she connected the findings to today by illustrating that the logic of calculus if built into different parts of nature.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I wish Morgan expanded on is how this information could affect the future. She briefly talked about the importance of it today but she could have mentioned the future impacts in more detail. Also, next time, Morgan should think about starting with a more exciting initial sentence to really draw the reader in.
One thing I learned is that calculus is not just a “man-made” concept. It is built into nature and can be seen in how animals react to environmental cues. For example, how flies react to the wind. Overall, I think Morgan wrote a really interesting review with a lot of information packed into a concise summary.
I read Morgan’s review of the article, “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings.” Morgan did a great job reviewing this article. While reading her review, I learned a lot about what flies do when faced with environmental disturbances. One thing she did particularly well was incorporate quotes from the original article. This helped the reader understand more about the article and it makes it have a more authentic feel. Another thing I thought Morgan did well was talking about how the flies rapid wing reaction times play a role in our society. She connects to how in this example nature and mathematics connect. Finally, I really liked how Morgan gave a in-depth explanation of the topic which allowed me to understand the article straight from the beginning of reading her review.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Morgan did a great job writing her review, there a few things that she could have done to enhance her review. For example, I wanted to know more about how the flies’ wing pattern was connected to “calculus” as the title implies.
Furthermore, Morgan could have also gone into greater detail about how this is significant to the flies way of life.
I thought that this article review was very interesting. Before reading, I never really thought about how smaller insects like flies deal with wind, a prime example of environmental disturbances. The bundle of neurons is what is doing the “calculus.”
I read Morgan Taylor’s review of the article “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings,” Before reading this I did not know a lot about what fly wings do when they are forced to deal with things like wind. I thought that Morgan did a really good job of summarizing all of the information from the article. She included all of the key paints from that article and important data without omitting any key details. I also thought that she did a good job of making all of the information in the article easy to understand. I also thought that Morgan did a good job including quotes form the article into her review, sometimes people forget to ad quotes. Lastly I thought that she explained the experiment very thoroughly, it was very easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteOverall Morgan’s article was very good leaving me with little critiques. Having said that I think that she could have integrated a few more quotes, although as I said she did have some. The only other thing that she could have done would have been to talk about what impact this information could have for the future or where this information will lead. My only other complaint is that Morgan had a few spelling and grammar errors that he could have fixed.
I really liked Morgan’s article, I thought it was interesting and informative. What I found most interesting was the actual experiment that was talked about in the article. I wonder how they got magnets on flies wings, also how this information could be helpful in the future.
I really enjoyed reading Morgan’s response to the article “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings,” by James Gorman. I appreciated how concise and clear Morgan made her response, helping me have a comprehensive, while at the same time easy understanding of such a complicated topic. Trying to explain how calculus is used in the flight patterns and reaction capabilities of flies is pretty difficult, but I thought that Morgan did a fantastic job. I also liked how Morgan mentioned the effect of such a discovery on humans. There is a chance that this finding could help us better understand the complex world of human brains.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Morgan could have improved her summary of the article in two ways. The first would be through the use of quotes. In my opinion, quotes help to strengthen any summary by giving specific textual evidence. I also believe that quotes often make the topic easier to understand. Another way that Morgan could have improved her summary would have been by better explaining exactly how calculus was involved in the fly’s ability to correct their flight path. It was clear that some math took place, but not really why or how. I thought that was a crucial piece of the article that Morgan could have touched upon more.
I had no idea the complexities of flight for a fly. I am extremely surprised and also kind of amazed. I believe that it is a very interesting topic, one I would really like to know more about.
Morgan did a great job summarizing the article, “Flies that do Calculus with their Wings.” She briefly described the overall study done at Cornell University, mentioning the purpose, procedure, and data. For example, Morgan wrote that the purpose of the study was to investigate the paths taken by the fly’s wings during environmental disturbances. In addition, she wrote that small magnets were glued on the wings and used as a “magnetic pulse” to pull them in certain directions, representing the obstacle of wind. She also described the significance of the three cameras. Second, Morgan incorporated quotes from the article well, mainly in her first paragraph. Lastly, Morgan indirectly explained the meaning of the article’s title by stating, “It’s also interesting to see the many ways the complicated patterns and logic of calculus are essential and built into different parts of nature.” She expanded on that idea by connecting it to what Gorman said, which was that it is necessary for neuroscientists to further investigate the calculus performed by the neurons in the haltere system.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Morgan’s review was well-written, she could have improved it by doing some extra research to include what similarities, concerning the nervous system, do flies and humans have in common. This could make her statement, “He says that we could possibly use our understandings of the flies’s neurons in human neuroscience,” stronger. One article I found that reveals similarities between fruit flies and humans is called, “Decoding the Human Brain, With Help From a Fly” by Nicholas Wade. Lastly, Morgan could have created a stronger topic sentence for her second paragraph.
Like Morgan, I was also impressed by how calculus is used in nature. I learned that flies have a bundle of neurons at the base of each wing, enabling them to correct their path of flight. The bundles of neurons “instantly calculate the change needed to be made and to execute it almost as quickly.” I enjoyed reading Morgan’s review and the original article. Both were interesting and connected well to the scientific world.
I read Morgans summery of the article “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings,” by James Gorman. Morgan gives a good analysis on the basis of the article and creates a picture in your mind as she describes the experiments being preformed on the flies. a couple things I liked in this review, was Morgan's use of quotes to support her review and her style of writing which is easy to read. Another thing I liked about this summery was how Morgan described how this impacts the world outside of just research. She explained how this information can be used to study and better understand the workings of the nervous systems not only on flies but for humans as well. Some aspects that I would change is the amount of information Morgan presented on the topic of flies. This article would have benefited if Morgan went into more depths on this topic and rooted for other areas of experimentation this could lead to. Another thing I would change is, she should have compared the nervous systems between the flies and the humans. explained how they are similar and why this discovery in flies can have huge effects in humans. overall I thought this was a very well written and interesting article. one part I was especially interested was how Morgan described the flies ability to adjust to the natural elements. The flies can sense the wind or pressure and instantly assimilate. This was a fascinating article and Morgan tied the concepts together nicely at the end making it a great review.
ReplyDeleteI think that Morgan did a great job reviewing the article, “Flies That Do Calculus With Their Wings” by James Gorman. She discusses how researchers at Cornell investigated the paths fly wings go through when faced with environmental disturbances, such as the wind. I thought that Morgan gave a very clear explanation of the research that is taking place on the flies by incorporating quotes and describing the experiment in her own words. I thought it was very interesting that flies are able to right their path of flight so quickly because at the base of each of their wings is a bundle of neurons, part of the haltere system, that are able to instantly calculate the change needed to be made and to execute it almost as quickly. I also enjoyed how Morgan discussed the importance of this research and how it could be used in human neuroscience because it creates a connection that the reader can understand. Furthermore, I think that her criticism of the article was very constructive, and I too think that the author should have included more detail about the importance of the research to the world and into how exactly this is important to neuroscience researchers.
ReplyDeleteWhile I like Morgan’s review, there are a few things I would have changed. I think that she could have included some more information on why the discovery was important as well as including a little more background on the information, such as how long the research has been taking place. Another thing that could have improved the article would be if she explained what the haltere system so the reader could better understand the information from the article. And lastly, there were a few minor grammar mistakes that could have been fixed by proofreading.
I thought that this article was very interesting because it explains the how complex frequency calculus, which I think of as man-made, relates to nature. Also, I am interested to see where this research goes in the future. Overall, Morgan’s review was very interesting and I learned a lot about this topic.