Hi there, welcome to Fridays Levy Letter. I hope youre well. This is the last Letter of the week. Whatever youre up to at the weekend, then I hope you enjoy. Of course, its a big weekend for sport with lots of Hull FC fans travelling down to Wembley. Its the Challenge Cup Final against St Helens tomorrow, so best of luck to them. If you or your family are travelling down to London, then safe journey and I hope you enjoy the game whatever the outcome!
Hard To Swat Bothered by flies much this summer? How annoying is it when you get a friendly fly that just cant help landing on you constantly or even worse landing on your food. Clever scientists in the US though have solved the mystery of why its so hard to swat them! I think people have put it down to psychic ability that they know when youve got the fly swatter out of the cupboard and then will instantly disappear whilst telling all their fly friends too, who all vanish as well. Scientists arent going down the psychic line though, not surprisingly. They think that the flys ability to dodge being hit and to avoid attempted swattings is due to its fast acting brain and an ability to plan ahead. Ah, I always knew flies were clever and cunning! Scientists have been filming flies using high speed, high resolution video, which have shown them in minute detail quickly working out where the threat is and where they can plan their escape route. And we all know how frustrating it can be ! after carefully aiming with your swatter, swooping down, only to miss by miles as the fly buzzes off to safety. Well, spare a thought for these frustrated researchers, who spent a long time with fruit flies and swatters. They discovered that long before the fly leaps, it calculates the location of the threat and comes up with an escape plan. And the flies can put their bodies into pre-flight mode incredibly quickly. Within 100 milliseconds of spotting the dreaded swatter, they can position their bodies in such a way so that a simple extension of their leg can rapidly propel themselves away from danger. And youll know this already, no matter what these darn flies are doing whether eating, grooming or feeding, theyre always ready to flee! I always knew you couldnt really creep up on a fly. So do you want some tips on how to swat an irritating fly? Im sorry if there are any animal lovers out there? But surely there isnt anybody who likes flies are there? Do let me know if! you do, but in the meantime, I apologise straight away if you! object to this. But for the rest of us, here are the scientists tips on fly swatting. Well, although flies can spot threats easily, they are unable to register slow movements. So it is best to creep up on a fly with stealth. I think some James Bond moves are required! And researchers suggest not aiming your swatter at the flys starting position, because by the time your swatter lands, the fly will be long gone. Its best to aim at whatever direction you predict the fly might fly. So there you go. I always knew flies were clever! Kate Well, I think you could say you know when youve made it when theres a gold statue made of you for the British Museum. Well, thats what theyre doing for the supermodel Kate Moss. Shes been immortalised in solid gold in a £1.5 million statue. The statue is called Siren by the artist Marc Quinn and itll be the largest gold statue to be produced since the time of Ancient Egypt. Now, I mentioned the artist there, Marc Quinn, not because the name meant much to me initially. I read though about a previous sculpture he did that courted quite a lot of controversy. He gained fame from a marble statue of Alison Lapper whilst she was pregnant. The statue attracted attention though, because Alison was born with no arms and shortened legs. The statue was incredibly striking though and I remember there was a lot of coverage over it whilst it was displayed in Trafalgar Square. I also read that this artist also produced a bust of his own head made from eight pints of his own frozen b! lood. Well, each to their own I suppose! So heres his latest work Kate Moss in a yoga pose in solid gold! Well, that's it from me for this week. I hope youve enjoyed reading the Letters this week. If youre down in Wembley this weekend, then I hope you enjoy. If you take any photos of your experience at the game, then Id love to see them. And if you want to email me about anything else, then get in touch too. Its the usual address of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Take care, Peter Your email address will be held by the BBC and kept confidential, and will only be used in relation to this newsletter. You will be given the option to unsubscribe from this newsletter each time you receive it. Please visit the BBC's Privacy & Cookies Policy (www.bbc.co.uk/privacy) for more information And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
