If you are a computational biologist you may want to learn “Fly.” A group of researchers published in PLoS ONE Computation Biology that through the use of electrodes they have been able to monitor neuron impulses in a fly as it was “flying.” The group was able to simulate flying by harnessing the fly into a turntable mechanism which mimics the flies normal vertigo flight as it avoids predators and chases other flies. The electrodes that were attached to the fly recorded pulses from the neurons in a surprisingly regular pattern. One of the lead researchers, Nemenman commented “Historically, people have observed a lot more random spike intervals. The research is a departure from the traditional understanding in that we see that the precision of spike timing that carries information about the fly’s rotation is a factor of ten higher than even the most daring previous estimates.”

This departure from previous findings questions some assumptions of how neuron networks respond to heightened situations. Furthermore this could change how artificial neural networks are designed as many of the current approaches have relied on previous research looking at sensory neuron impulses. New understanding in how neural networks function could improve the design of computers, increase the efficiency of network interfaces, and help solve numerous other technical architecture problems.