First, Kudos to Twin Cites Kare 11 News for having a weekly spot called “Simply Science.” For the last few years media outlest have been dropping science spots, features, sections, or segments. It is nice to see one added.<\/p>\n
And now on to the flies. A Minnesota company called Ecolab, features on Kare 11, has device that kills flies. There is a smell that attracts females that humans supposedly “can’t really smell” (we’ll see about that). Males hang around because of the females, of course. Flies are also attracted to slightly shiny things (the original “Ooo Shiney” then you die effect) and they like the color black (makes sense, they seem to always dress in black). So, the Ecolab device looks like a black shiny TV but it is actually a surface covered with a fly-killing substance. The flies show up, hand around, get the poison on them, then die. Here’s a video demonstration:<\/p>\n