233
New research shows that the insects flying around the streetlights are in fact in a living hell that we made for bugs. (dice.camp)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Shkshkshk@dice.camp to c/science@lemmy.world
34 comments fedilink hide all child comments

New research shows that the insects flying around the streetlights are in fact in a living hell that we made for bugs.

@science

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-44785-3

Essentially, their tiny bug brains think the light is the sunset, so they keep turning to keep the "sun" at the same angle so they can go "straight." No matter how far they fly, they don't make any progress. They are trapped in this little hell we made just for them, not understanding why they can't get to where they are going.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] alvvayson@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I learned this back in the 90s, I'm surprised new research is needed.

The solution seems to be LED lighting. The right LED bulbs don't trigger the bug brains.

Edit to add source (below) and I forget the detail: it's about using LEDs with less blue light, since blue light affects the bugs.

https://phys.org/news/2022-10-impact-energy-efficient-streetlights-insects.html

[-] Shkshkshk@dice.camp 17 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

@alvvayson Existing research was about "how do we stop the bugs from circling our lights?". This is about *why* the bugs circle the lights. It artificially triggers the dorsal reflex, which disorients the bugs.

load more comments (6 replies)
this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2024
233 points (95.3% liked)

science

15026 readers
135 users here now

A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.

rule #1: be kind

<--- rules currently under construction, see current pinned post.

2024-11-11

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
m3t00@lemmy.world
Joleee@lemmy.world
laverabe@lemmy.world
DeadPand@midwest.social