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Pesky though they might be, houseflies are remarkable biological specimens – strong enough to carry up to half their own body weight and, as you’ve likely noticed when trying to swat one, exceptionally quick and nimble. For his 1910 short The Acrobatic Fly, the pioneering British naturalist and filmmaker F Percy Smith put the strength and dexterity of houseflies on display, filming one as it juggled items including a cork and a miniature barbell. Perhaps most impressive, however, is a sequence that features a fly rotating a ball with another fly balancing atop it, like a tiny circus act. For more slightly creepy early film fun from F Percy Smith, watch To Demonstrate How Spiders Fly.
Director: F Percy Smith
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Earth science and climate
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22 minutes
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Cosmology
The Indian astronomer whose innovative work on black holes was mocked at Cambridge
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Art
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Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
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Astronomy
Seven years later, what can we make of our first confirmed interstellar visitor?
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Physics
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Art
More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution
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Biotechnology
The two women behind a world-changing scientific discovery
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Childhood and adolescence
Striking shadow puppetry illuminates a skater kid’s memories of Boy Scout camp
12 minutes