EVER got an electric shock after walking across a new carpet? Houseflies have
a similar problem, and it could prove their undoing. Scientists have now worked
out how to exploit the phenomenon to build an environmentally friendly
flytrap.
Houseflies tend to become positively charged, losing electrons through
friction as they walk across certain insulating surfaces such as PVC or
polythene. “This means they can attract and pick up negatively charged dust
particles,” says Daniel McGonigle of the University of Southampton, who is
studying this “triboelectric” effect in flies. The flytrap he’s developing with
colleague Chris Jackson exploits the fact that…
