Dragonflies hunt by predicting the future

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Corrections and FAQ in this comment! Hey everybody! Welcome to the comments section. This was a fun one to make - hope you enjoyed it! Corrections etc: 1) I wanted to specify - that acceleration is per axis, but since the net acceleration is at a diagonal, you actually need to do some Pythagoras to get the vector sum - the peak overall accelerations for the head were 5-6g! (that means the wingtip acceleration had to be NUTS but it's a lot harder to track, so I haven't yet. maybe I should just to know...) 2) all the slomo clips here were filmed at 1491 fps because that’s the max framerate at a nominal 4k for my camera. I played them all back at 30 fps, except for one of the tracking landing shots that’s doubled to 60fps playback I think. All the panning was by cropping in and digitally panning on the image. this is all WAY too fast to move a physical camera by hand in a sensible way 3) I totally forgot to add links to the papers I referenced! Can’t believe that! There's a list in the description of a few good ones - I know I read more but I can't remember them all - I really should keep track in Mendeley like gradschool... 4) A lot of comments are suggesting that plenty of predators do this "prediction", but I think that successfully "leading" your prey is a pretty rare trait in nature. In the same vein, some comments are trying to downplay the dragonflies' technique, suggesting they're using "proportional tracking" or something like a missile, but I think it's actually much more complicated than that. check out the wikipedia article and read about "motion camouflage" - it's absolutely amazing! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_camouflage They do this with a brain the size of a pea, half of which is just a GPU for their crazy eyes. 5) _____________?

[@bloodalchemy]

9 hours in and not a single correction. Dud he finally make a perfect video? Only time will tell.

[@prbmax]

"There have been a lot of studies done" and paid for but never known by the public at large that paid for said studies. You do your content just because it interested you and more people will view your content than all the paid for studies.

[@TheZitherish]

G force of a human runners foot fall is between 5 to 7 G.🖖

[@ParrotParrot]

10 hours and 0 corrections, bro fell off

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

@@bloodalchemybold of you to post this like 20 minutes after publication when my comment from last night had gone unseen by human eyes for 8.5 of those hours 😂

[@rileyparish5149]

Does anyone else get the sense that Brian would be doing this kind of stuff even without a KZbin channel? He's not optimizing for the algorithm or pumping out flashy stunts to grab attention, he's genuinely just filming himself doing stuff he's interested in and sharing it with us. It's refreshing :)

[@benjaminandersen1097]

content gets good when the maker does what the maker is drawn too, the true curiosity shines through

[@ChasWG]

And he has a good sense of humor and is willing to laugh at himself. This makes it endearing to the audience. Keep doing you Brian!

[@randomviewer3494]

For sure. This channel just makes it possible he can buy nice toys, uh tools, to play with

[@bottlekruiser]

iunno, dragonflies are quite flashy (i'm here arent i) also ive been putting this video off for while nad i swear "Dragonflies hunt by predicting the future" is at least the third iterarion of the title so there's *some* optimisation but yeah this is a. I don't have words for how cool this channel is. This is something *worthy* of optimization

[@auerbacher69]

he's one of the few oldschool youtube 'broadcast yourself' bastions left

[@wilsonarno]

13:29 is a cinematic masterpiece! The small fly charging along, and then suddenly the dragonfly from below really makes me appreciate how terrifying dragonflies are to these smaller insects. The music was just the cherry on top!

[@costynvd]

So good! BBC nature doc quality!

[@Joetoep]

Indeed. Incredibly done.

[@nonothebot]

@13:41 Wonderfull shot ! Congratulations and thank you for thid amazing movie.

[@alveolate]

was that flight of the valkyries?

[@wilsonarno]

@@alveolate It is from the "William Tell Overture"

[@JD-qq8fz]

Oh man recently I was sitting in a lake surrounded by dragonflies who were keeping all the pests away, contemplating how cool an open world dragonfly action rpg would be, whippin around hunting flies with sick time dilation and flight effects... damn dragonflies are awesome

[@Hinotori_joj]

i was also recently at a lake when i saw a dragonfly eat a bug for the first time. It was just a gnat hovering there in circles, and a dragonfly hovering still watching it. Then the dragonfly moved forward and back, looking like it just sucked up the gnat right out of the air. Kinda looked like the exact thing Brian said he though they did.

[@rianantony]

Oh man, a science based dragon(fly) mmo rpg would really be awesome. I wonder if anyone's ever thought of that

[@LordBallSac]

A movie. Jumping spiders movie meets killer bees and killer piranhas 😂 no cgi, and the metaphor is some current bollox

[@zaymonantonio]

@@rianantony Can you breed them too?

[@Flint-Dibble-the-Don]

Buck Bumble was a cool N64 game where you were a Bee with laser guns. Wasps were the enemy.

[@hansangb]

Growing up in Korea, I accidentally found out that you can hypnotize dragonflies. For summer vacation, you often were required to catch insects and make a diorama of sorts. Stand about two fee away facing the dragonfly, arms stretched, and twirl your index finger slowly and in big circles. Slowly move towards the dragonfly and make the twirls smaller and smaller. You'll get to a point where you can tap the twig that the dragonfly is on, and it'll immediately land on your finger (just place your finger under the dragonfly. After about a minute or so, it'll fly away. Could have saved Brian a lot of time trying to get the perfect shots of the Dragonflies. LOL But those take off and landings were awesome. And who knew dragonflies could teach AF/Navy pilots and aviators a thing or two on closure with the enemy.

[@lignow9762]

Very interesting, I`ll give it a try.

[@DrDeuteron]

that's a straight up super power.

[@mrk2ovtec]

That’s how missiles work. They predict where the target will go.

[@mq9047]

@@mrk2ovteci thought they know where they are because they know where they aren’t

[@Randomyoutubecommenter]

​@@mq9047 They know where they are because they know where they aren't hence they know they aren't there so they'll know where they're going because if they aren't going then they're gonna go eventually so they have to know that they aren't there for them to know where they will be and so they will be where they weren't and as such the dragonfly can catch the gnat where it thinks it wants to go for the dragonfly knows where it will and won't go

[@tonechild5929]

The way it nudges forward with each thrust in that slow shot, really shows how air is like a fluid

[@Flopsaurus]

Air is a fluid though

[@garryiglesias4074]

@@Flopsaurus Yup, it's not like, it IS.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

Air is a fluid ya oaf

[@dognoseranger]

"when's the last time you ate a meal in a tenth of a second?" That's probably the timing of "eating" bugs when I'm on a bike ride, granted there's no fancy approach vectors involved, just a bunch of over reactive hacking and spitting out of bug bits after the fact.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Oh man you’re right - I had something fly into my mouth while I was running the other day… always sets off the next hundred meters of coughing it out lol

[@clonkex]

​@@AlphaPhoenixChannel Or in my case usually just give up and swallow

[@randomviewer3494]

@@clonkex free meat. locally sourced, no antibiotics used.

[@kendokaaa]

I've started having a mask in my pocket for when I get to the areas I know have clouds of bugs

[@kyokoyumi]

Extra protein.

[@Joetoep]

Man, what an amazing first-class national geographic video. I was invested in this video from the first till the last second.

[@fleecefoxes6471]

More "ba-dum-disch" jokes in national geographic videos!

[@mozkitolife5437]

Hi Alpha, I’m an entomologist so can’t wait to watch this. You’re the best. Edit: Wow, phenomenal effort. Nature photography does take a lot of patience to capture the perfect shot. It’d be great to identify the species in your videos. Unfortunately it requires preserving specimens and studying the wing venation, amongst other characters. I wonder if trapping Calliphorids etc and tying a tether around its neck would work? They could be chilled to allow it.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Hmm I haven’t tried to catch any of them, but it is in Raleigh North Carolina, right next to a ravine with a creek at the bottom where I assume they hang out. Umstead Park isn’t far away and the open areas there are always packed with dragonflies - maybe somebody has studied those populations more closely to give a hint at mine

[@lyrag6376]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel check out inaturalist for nearby IDs!

[@PebelWasTaken]

Damm I didn't calliphoridae was chill like that.

[@SagaciousDjinn]

​@@PebelWasTakenOnly while chilled are they chill like that.

[@PebelWasTaken]

@@SagaciousDjinn what does one do to make a fly be chill.

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

Dragonflies are my best buddies since after going on a dive in a small lake in Nevada years ago, we were completely swarmed by horseflies upon getting out. Thankfully, there was an army of dragonflies that literally picked them off faster than they could bite. When we got home there was a news report that said there were cases appearing of encephalitis spread by horse flies out in that area. Thanks buddies for your aerial support.😁

[@Orchids.and.Endlers]

What a cool story :) they’re so cool like little fighter jets

[@ThatsMrPencilneck2U]

This is the best film of a dragonfly attack I've found without a long search. Without going through repeated documentaries of the life cycle of the insect, this video shows exactly what the wildlife documentaries keep talking about, but never show. I wanted to see what they mean by this creature being such a monster predator, but AlphaPhoenix is the only one I've found that didn't just waste my time. Kudos!

[@nikolaiturcan6963]

The coolest thing in my opinion was the Tracking and data analysis, that part gave much more insight than just cool videos!

[@mmklm-nm]

That's the neat thing about high speed photography. You can do so much more scientific analysis by measuring and charting what you can see than by just visually observing the specimen/object. It would have been neat to calculate the velocity and acceleration of the wing tips, among other things. Great job! Really enjoyed the video.

[@ricoreyes6044]

I'm definitely glad he did that and shared the insights. They've gotta be near the top of the animal kingdom when it comes to power-to-weight ratio.

[@Pacific222]

Thanks! I love your enthusiasm, and what fantastic results!

[@42Hz]

Perfect timing of a video for me :) was just teaching my son how to hover-swim yesterday and we called the technique “dragonfly”. And he wanted to see a video of it flying :)

[@FrizzyAnimation]

As an animator, these slow mo shots are amazing references + plus it comes with a fascinating video

[@briandeschene8424]

I’ve never seen any naturalist photographer/videographer who didn’t have to spend ->99% of their time getting set up and waiting. Waiting for that shot that captures a moment. Well done sir to your excellent preparation, contagious enthusiasm, and professional patience! Thank you.

[@yattayayfications]

still the only youtube channel with "alpha" in its name that I can watch

[@chrishayes5755]

get in where you fit in, as the saying goes..

[@JTCF]

The dragonfly landing really reminds me about spaceship landings in game Elite Dangerous. Classical music only strengthens that parallel. Also, the way it reaches out with its legs is incredible as an idea of how articulated spaceship landing gear could work for landing or securing to a carrier ship. Insects are cool.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Reminds me of the ornithopters from dune getting grabbed by SpaceX’s mechazilla tower

[@tonechild5929]

o7 o7 CMDR

[@bottlekruiser]

little chitinous robots they are

[@Chamieiniibet]

Have you seen the Oblivion movie?

[@MoCassidy]

Okay, so, I think I speak for everyone in the audience when I say that there's no way we're going to let you not sit in your backyard for like five more days, getting a whole host of these amazing shots. MOARR PLEASE! Part of your job now gets to be just sitting in your yard eating bbq and having a beer with your fly buddies

[@ErikScott128]

The phase relationship between the forward/upper and rear/lower wings is really interesting. I'm almost certain it has to do, at least partially, with the wake interaction between the wings. Like in a helicopter, the induced velocity (downwash) is going to be much higher in hover, so this probably necessitates a different "cadence" to the wing beats. In hover, there is likely some efficiency gained with the wings beating 180 degrees out of phase. It makes me think of a coaxial helicopter which has two rotors spinning opposite directions, one rotor positioned above the other. In this setup, there is actually a small but non-trivial amount of efficiency gained through "swirl recovery" of the wake (that is, the upper rotor imparts some rotation to the wake, and the lower rotor takes it out). There could be something similar happening with the dragonfly; the upper pair of wings imparts some horizontal velocity component to the wake which is then used and negated by the lower pair. In forward flight, it seems the rear wings beat before the forward wings. This might be an attempt to reduce the amount of time the rear wings spend the the downwash of the forward wings. If the forward wings beat first, the rear wings would then beat down into already-descending air, reducing their efficiency. By having the rear wings beat first, they remain ahead of any downwash created by the forward wing. On the up-stroke, the rear wings then ascend quickly through the forward wings' downwash. Essentially, by beating 90 degrees ahead of the forward wings, the rear wings minimize the time spent in the forward wings' downwash. All of this, of course, is complete conjecture based only on having watched this video and my own experience in aeronautical engineering. My primary area of expertise (if one could call it that) is with helicopters, not ornithopters, but I feel this at least provides enough background to make an educated guess.

[@DrDeuteron]

you need to post the numbers...Reynolds, for example. (idk. not my field: Cauchy, Euler, Galilei, Roshko, Strohaul, ..I'm just spitballing from wiki's page on "dimensionless numbers in fluid mechanics".

[@Jakub1989YTb]

0:46 - 0:51 ... every family visit ever :D

[@R3dFlames]

10:12 - 10:21 as well? 😆

[@720MotorWorks]

@@R3dFlames "I gave you beer, go eat the beer" 😂

[@cavemann_]

LMAO

[@lukemaney645]

Excellent video and analysis, looking forward to more high speed bug shots 😂.

[@PaulG.x]

14:00 This is amazing! The DF is gliding! I have never heard of insects gliding before. 14:30 15:26 And the DF keeps its head fairly horizontal while banking through a turn.

[@soconoha]

That was wild, I had no idea either.

[@SensSword]

0:37 "toy" is the correct terms. Calling it a "tool" is the terminology used when trying to convince one's wife it's a prudent purchase.

[@dank.]

Well he is trying to convince his patrons that he isn't wasting their money, and general viewers that he's a responsible internet eccentric

[@RobertShippey]

I suspect patrons would agree with buying cool toys for the channel

[@dank.]

@@RobertShippey true lol

[@totallycarbon2106]

Presumably he also wants to convince the tax office that it's definitely a business expense!

[@itsROMPERS...]

If it makes you money, it's a tool.

[@barks081]

EPIC! The setup, the science and your presentation! Loving it!

[@IscuAndrei]

And I thought I was obsessed by dragonflies. Thanks for quenching my thirst for dragonfly data :)

[@jucom756]

From the little i know about boating i think the dragon fly actually is really cleverly evolved to not need that much post processing of the input data. Since its eyes essentially cover a set of angles relative to the head, it just needs to adjust its trajectory until the target stops moving. Since 2 straight line trajectories on an intercept course have a constant relative angle!

[@PaulG.x]

Dragonflies do more than just predict its prey's trajectory and plan to intercept it. Dragonfies use a technique called motion camouflage: "The principal form of motion camouflage, and the type generally meant by the term, involves an attacker's mimicking the optic flow of the background as seen by its target. This enables the attacker to approach the target while appearing to remain stationary from the target's perspective, unlike in classical pursuit (where the attacker moves straight towards the target at all times, and often appears to the target to move sideways). The attacker chooses its flight path so as to remain on the line between the target and some landmark point. The target therefore does not see the attacker move from the landmark point. The only visible evidence that the attacker is moving is its looming, the change in size as the attacker approaches. " -Wikipedia It is probably also the reason dragonfly eyes can see to the rear at the same time as looking forward

[@hanelyp1]

Awhile back I figured that if the target is flying at a uniform velocity, an optimal intercept keeps the target in a constant angular position. Now that you mention it that would also work from the perspective of the target, keeping the interceptor at a constant angular position.

[@atsdroid]

You and @hanelyp1 reminded me that I encountered the same phenomenon while studying marine navigation. You can apply it to aviation and driving as well. Zero angular motion of the target = collision course. Say you're approaching a crossroads in your car, and you spot another car on the crossroad approaching the same intersection. Try to notice its relative spot on your windscreen during the approach. If it appears to be moving forward, they will arrive at the intersection first. If backward, you will arrive before it does. And if it seems stationary, look out, you're on a collision course with that vehicle! (They should teach this in driving schools.) The phenomenon is part of the reason why it's actually hard sometimes to "see and avoid" other aircraft you're flying amongst while operating VFR. The aircraft that are easy to spot invariably have some relative motion component, so they appear to move in your field of view. You're not on a collision course with these targets (for now, but because you both may be trying to maneuver to the same place, it's still important to keep an "eye" on them). It's the aircraft that appear stationary from your field of view which are very dangerous, you are on a collision course with them. Our visual systems are better at detecting relative motion, and these collision-course object will have none. Throw in a lack of contrast, and that means dangerous aircraft will be hard to detect. As your wiki quote says, the only significant change you'll see is the looming effect of its change in apparent size. That effect has an exponential factor to it, so it's hard for you to gauge until it's too late. Learn more? Search out NIMA Pub. 1310, "Radar Navigation and Maneuvering Board Manual", chapter 3. It occurs to me that one approach to an adaptive cruise-control system in a car, where the car could adjust its speed to keep a relatively constant distance from another vehicle ahead, would employ a camera and an image processor that can reliably identify that vehicle. Then the processor would work to keep that target's taillights or side edges a fixed pixel-distance apart. Changes in that distance would become an error signal that would modulate your speed.

[@PaulG.x]

@@atsdroidIt is largely because visual systems (of most species) have specialised to detect lateral movement for threat detection. Prey animals optimise this even further by having eyes on the sides of their heads.

[@florianvancitters3674]

Those velocity graphs you build to detect the dragonfly's acceleration are super cool! I would have also loved to see the peak force, which given their mass mustn't be large - all the more amazing that such a small force leads to rapid and repeated acceleration!

[@atsdroid]

Studying the acceleration plot, I gauge there's a bit of "jerk" (3rd derivative); maybe a bit of "snap" (4th). It amuses me that the 4th, 5th, and 6th derivs. are called, snap, crackle, and pop! -- However, these might be artifacts of the measurement setup (I'm guessing Brian was pixel counting per frame).

[@OrenArieli]

Your combination of science and nature appreciation is most impressive! Thanks for increasing our base of knowledge.

[@user255]

I raised Aeshna cyanea (male) nymph to an adult with my son. It was fun project. They are smarter than I would have guessed. I used wooden stick to give him food (or just point where it is) and it always made him come to watch what is going on (even the bare stick without food). But he learn to completely ignore the hose I used to clean the aquarium. Wood stick = food coming. Hose = boring. After the final molting we released him back to nature to find a mate. I'm glad my son insist about the project.

[@KindaKrispy]

This video had everything: genuine scientific curiosity, scholarly references, multidisciplinary features (caneras), corny jokes, long format content, great footage, and bugs! Liked, subscribed, and commented. I wish you success on your future endeavors.

[@gergelyritter4412]

Dragonflies, at least in my opinion, are the single most fascinating creatures on earth. They are the closest organism to perfection. Everything about them is as efficient as possible. I have actually written a ~20 page document about dragonflies for my highschool graduation. We had to use actual sources and all, so I am pretty well-versed in the topic. Here are just some facts about dragonflies: - They have the highest catchrate of any predator. They have roughly 90% chance of catching their prey on a hunt. With this, they basicly have tripple the likelyhood of catching their prey as the second best flying hunter. They also outdo the best hunters on the ground and even outdo the predators, which hunt in groups. - The dragonflies, unlike most other fyling insects, can control every wing seperately and can thus hover, fly up, down, forwards and even backwards. -They have incredible eyes, which react much, much faster than ours. - They can't walk as their legs have now completely lost that function. They can only sit and catch prey with them. - As showcased in the video, dragonflies hunt using predictions. They predict where their prey will be at a given time and intercept it. This technique is incredibly rare among flying hunters, as it requires MUCH more brainpower and thus energy. Barely any birds even do this, despite a much larger brain. - If I remember correctly, more than 50% of the dragonfly brain is dedicated to their eyes. And these are only some facts about the adult form. They actually live most of their lives underwater, where they also fill the roles of predators. Sometimes, in small ponds with small fish, they can even be the apex predators. They use ambush tactics, by laying on the floor of the pond and wait. They have a fadcinating jaw, which shoots out almost like a harpoon. I truly recommend looking into these creatures. They are beautiful, efficient killing machines. The only sad thing aboit them is that they loode their colours when they die.

[@gergelyritter4412]

I have to correct myself. They don't control every wing seperately. They control the two sets of wings seperately. Basicly thsy control 2 and then control 2. That's unlike most insects. The reason behind it is incredibly interssting as well, but it would be difficult to explain in a comment.

[@antimatterhorn]

one of the cooler things about dragonflies is that their flight muscles are so powerful and so energetic, that if they were to hover for long periods (a few 10s of seconds), they would literally boil their insides and explode. they essentially require motion through the air to cool off their muscles. which is why they prefer to perch so much.

[@Skraap]

Big "SmarterEveryDay" energy from this one, I love it.

[@magneticflux-]

Oof, maybe not him, he'd bookend the video with "intelligent design" talking points since a dragonfly is too complex to be created by random chance...

[@dpatts]

@@magneticflux- I usually enjoy Destin's energy but yeah, that last one was too close to proselytising

[@muratkabilov]

being a scientist really is a state of mind

[@foadrightnow5725]

The video footage by itself was already amazing Nat Geo caliber quality! But then add the flight analytics on top of it? Brainiac Boy! Amazing and very well done!

[@Harrzack]

Great work! I’m a huge fan of dragonfly’s - your work is very informstive. THANKS! 🍺🍺

[@AndrewTroupis]

I know you probably get a lot of this, but dang do I appreciate the work you've put into this channel. It's fascinating stuff, and you keep me learning and wondering. Thanks!

[@gamestuff1959]

i see this frequently while out fishing, its amazing!

[@plutoisaplanet19]

The wing phases as it lands were really cool!! As humans it's so fun to analyze and look at the different things it's doing, but I'm sure the dragonfly is "just landing". It's natural and instinctive, AND highly mathematical and precise.

[@Snookattack]

Thank you Brian that was very entertaining and educational.

[@iteerrex8166]

It’s like a quarterback throwing the ball not where the wide receiver is, but where he is going to be. Well in this case the quarterback is traveling with the ball 😂. Cool stuff 👍

[@raoulmoes6278]

phenomenal video Brian. I love seeing smart people applying their smarts in fields that they're not too familiar with!

[@royharkins7066]

Boom boom 😂 I saw a dragon attack a wasp a foot away from my eyes, it just bit off its head ! Apparently they use what is called “motion camouflage” truly amazing creatures that I love to watch for hours , thanks for a great show ❤

[@rockybamf]

Super cool! I always like to watch them fly and now I have a new appreciation for them

[@abhilasha4334]

There were a lot of dragon flies in my place when I was young, now I can't see any of them, I used to catch them and feed a black bugs that were found on a white flower, your video showed me how fascinating are dragon flies,

[@CMD4WP]

So wonderful to experience. Everything is just pleasant to view. Thank you.

[@aNobleLlama]

You know how you can trap a ball or similar object in a constant jet of air and make it float in mid air using the jet? Take some dead flies, setup the shot with a small air compressor making a jet of air that suspends the fly, or whatever, in mid air, directly in focus... and wait. If it causes the hunt reaction from the dragonfly, they likely won't stop just because it's dead if they see it 'flying' and it's actually something it would usually eat.

[@edgeeffect]

"This new toy.... um, I mean tool" :)

[@DisasterxUs]

that landing is one of the coolest shots I've ever seen. the little arms reaching out 😅

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

@@DisasterxUs when I saw that clip I was hooked - after that I spent a whole week thinking about how to set up this shot, then two weekends actually trying

[@leflavius_nl5370]

Roofying and then hand-painting flies is such an awesome idea.

[@MainelyElectrons]

Filming this video in Maine would have been a piece of cake this past week, the only flying inspects I’ve saw in the woods is swarms of dragonflies! Nothing else stands a chance against their might. Thank you for the upload, excellent video

[@dcdk1525]

What a Top Awsom viD Mr., I love it

[@AlanZucconi]

I used conduct neurotechnology research on fruit flies, so this is really interesting! 🤩 I remember a paper titled "Visually Mediated Motor Planning in the Escape Response of Drosophila" which used mirrors and high-speed cameras to record the flies from multiple angles simultaneously. I attended a presentation during which they showed a few "bloopers" from the recording sessions, with flies smashing into walls and obstacles. It happens fairly frequently, and a fairly high speed. But flies are left unharmed, so I guess there's never been too much evolutionary pressure to make landing 100% perfect (at least on fruit flies!).

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Hilarious - I guess when you dont weigh anything, the deceleration force isn’t oppressive 😁

[@AlanZucconi]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel the ecstasy and agony of having small momentum ✨

[@Th3_UnKnOwN_PrO]

Keep doing this! With all kinds of insects. Been waiting years 4 a channel to do this

[@JxH]

Maybe about 8-10 years ago, we were unloading the car after a Big Box store run. So the front door was left open as we unloaded the groceries and supplies. I happened to be standing beside the door when a very large (maybe 5 inches, 12 cm ?) dragonfly flew past me and into the house. I yelled "HEY!", and the dragonfly immediate stopped, hovered in place, and spun around to look straight in my direction, while continuing to hover in place. Well, that was odd... So I said, "Get out!" and pointed to the open door. The dragonfly turned and flew out the open door. In hindsight, we should have kept it as a pet.

[@dimitar4y]

"do a 0 g rollover!" "good boy!"

[@microdesigns2000]

Supposing you had to give your new dragonfly a name. What would you call it?

[@dimitar4y]

i made a joke about asking it to make a 0 g rollover. That comment got deleted. God what is wrong with censortube

[@galen1957]

Check out the butterfly house in Key West.

[@microdesigns2000]

@@galen1957 there is a butterfly house also in Chicago, in a children's museum called Peggy Notebart. It's a very pleasing place to visit in February.

[@13r4nd0]

Dragonflies are cool and this only makes them seem cooler, nice work.

[@RenghisKhan]

I used to watch dragonflies hunt when they were more abundant 25 years ago. I've never, ever seen one miss it's target. They are fenomanaly effective hunters.

[@unaitxo]

This is one of the coolest things I've seen this year for sure.

[@ttheek]

12:57 Dragonfly is a missile.

[@mastershooter64]

It knows where it is at all times, because it knows where it isn't...

[@lignow9762]

Innovating problem solving at the top most level. Fantastic results do to your thinking ahead capabilities. The key here is having fun. Thanks for the great video.

[@MeloniestNeon]

As a dragonfly enthusiast, this video just makes me love these mosquito-destroying miniature attack helicopters even more!

[@alexhale6582]

Ornithopters :)

[@kylejuve5494]

Love the look when you said “over analyze “ Oooh I can’t wait

[@matthewkendrick8280]

Hearing “I just looked at the light and now I got green all over” made me wonder why I never questioned the fact that our vision turns green when we look directly at a bright light. I’ve never heard it described as green before but it sure is green. Maybe some cone cells are more hurt by bright lights than others and that sends a signal that our brains interpret as green.

[@dimitar4y]

na, humans just have more sensitive green vision for some reason unbeknownst to me. So when you're flashbanged, all your cones are overloaded to max, but the green one outputs more signal at peak so you see it.

[@gaiusfulmen]

@@dimitar4y The green sensitivity may be due to our ancestors' foraging behavior, to allow them to distinguish more species of plants.

[@dimitar4y]

@@gaiusfulmen that actually makes a lot of sense tbh

[@NickGarcia1519]

I did some dragonfly research in undergrad and they truly are magnificent

[@gg-gn3re]

@15:49 hahaha you are wrong here. You really think they would have a better setup for how they're studying? Have you seen the types of images NASA studies? It's likely the dragon fly footage they caught was on worse equipment with way worse focus and they just studied the blurry footage.

[@piercebishop4052]

One of the best and most informative scientific channels 😮

[@ERKNEES2]

13:58 glide home lil bb

[@georgewhitehead8185]

This man is fantastic. His exuberance is unbounded, and besides all of that, he is a great teacher. All of you came away better informed, on many levels. Doctor George Whitehead

[@DeadJDona]

16:20 release them from tube

[@likita779]

Was thinking the same, compressed air a tube then you can cannonball moskitos or fly to the Dragonfly

[@ericfielding2540]

Amazing work to capture this with the right lighting and focus plus the physics calculations thrown in for good measure.

[@AmritEmperor123]

So you read some research papers, played with a high quality camera, and did some hardcore derivatives to solve real life problems. None of that stuff alone is a big deal, but all combined together is usually a whole team's job. What exactly are you?

[@XenonLining]

This was an incredible video. I already knew what dragonflies were capable of but you visualized it here and I'd like to see more. Well done.

[@ad70preterist]

God is an amazing designer

[@originative2011]

There are so many things that one needs to learn from this video/ project. Absolutely loved it.

[@digigil4597]

To me the dragonfly looks like he smiled or was excited after consuming his gnat or fly right after he turned around! The presentation is awesome, natural, memorable teacherlike, for those few students to have such a gift! Great job!

[@alexhale6582]

3 - 4 G swings every 80th of a second I think our brains would spray out our ears. Fascinating video, kudos.

[@LarryDana]

Very cool photography, love this kind of frame design. Looking forward to more interesting pics.

[@Hoch134]

Great production quality! Even more impressive is how dragonflies and other insects can gather so much energy for hunting out of such little insects that it's still worth hunting them.

[@LHSNottingham]

You make the coolest videos about stuff I'd never even think of. Genuinely got chills and had the hair on my arms/legs standing up at 13:40

[@pomodorino1766]

Great shots! Dragonflies are among the most refined hunting machines out there, I always enjoy this kind of content. Thank you!

[@stevebriggs4448]

I have always liked Dragonflies, thank you for making this video and showing just how amazing they are, also for making that education enjoyable and going into such detail of how you did it - Brilliant!!

[@xremming]

Oh wow. Those shots look so amazing. I especially love the small pauses to kinda glide. I feel this is going to be great reference for any ornithopter animations in the future.

[@iottabbetter]

The other day I went into rabbit hole on how dragonflies eat. And then I see you posted this!! My happiness is immeasurable

[@bobbytables1976]

I love how much detail you go into in your videos. You're not afraid to dive pretty deep into the math and physics which I think some science youtubers see as potentially scaring away a broader audience and I really appreciate that. You're seriously talented at explaining the complex stuff in a very understandable way also so I hope you stick with this style of video. And your enthusiasm about everything you do on here is infectious!

[@meta.aesthetica]

This is incredible footage! As a lover of creating film and photography, I know how difficult it would be to just get some average footage of a Dragonfly catching a fly, let alone to get footage that looks as fantastic as this!!! Bravo sir 👏🏽 🙌 👍🏼

[@vincentdermience1137]

Your genius, presentation skills and humility keep make me laugh. I always enjoy your videos.

[@russellg1473]

Dragonflies are definitely the coolest insect imo. I’ve been working on attracting them to my garden/yard. Awesome video!

[@adef]

Your dedication to experimentation is so admirable and amazing. It makes your videos go from great to unbelievably great!! Kudos, you are the goat

[@dinohunter7176]

These shots feels unreal. Very good job, and thanks for sharing!

[@pellechi1]

Learned decades ago on the ‘beauty’ of the dragonfly. This Incredible video shows me for the first time (in super slo-mo) how special this creature is … Your use of photographic tools is impressive … thanks for taking me on this journey … I wish your expertise could be exploited and used as the foundation for a Nature Documentary series …

[@AntLab]

Very cool! Yeah, getting insects to behave within the field of view of a high-speed camera is a pain! I feel you there!

[@NickoTyn]

Thank you for being so curious. I love this video.

[@newmonengineering]

I was just learning about dragonflies 2 or 3 weeks ago. They are amazing short lived creatures. Its crazy just how accurate they are while hunting. I can't wait to see all the things you capture with your new tool(toy). Those were impressive shots already and very cool to see such a small animal that is able to navigate arguable more percise then our best technology airlines. Such a fast, precise movement to capture such a tiny bug on its own random path. Keep up the awesome content

[@awesomecronk7183]

WOW that's cool! It's really neat to see the scale difference at the bugs' scale... It's like getting targeted by a truck!

[@adirbenyakov1022]

This is the first video that I actually saw from the beginning to the end! Amazing job!

[@auerbacher69]

i cannot put into words how much i love and appreciate videos like this when scientists like you or destin from smartereveryday highlight the wonder of these seemingly mundane small everyday things. for me videos like this are reminders of just how rich and magical the world around me is, if i just pay attention to it

[@BIGV1N]

Nice touch drawing in the focal box area when explaining the limitations of camera hardware

[@deltavee2]

Dragonflies and hummingbirds are where it's at. Thanks for a very interesting video.