Running away…
In most species it is the female that decides whether mating is going to take place. Portuguese biologists have discovered which region of the fruit fly’s brain is involved in this decision. Deactivating these brain cells causes the female fruit fly to run away from the advances of her would-be mate. And she can’t stop.
![](https://www.resource-online.nl/app/uploads/2022/07/4b0b6e26-5cc4-4a2e-908f-f0fc241f101b_fruitvliegen_6d251482_200x133.png)
…or staying put
The remarkable behaviour of the ‘brainwashed’ fruit fly has nothing to do with a change in its mobility. The female fruit fly only displays this behaviour during the mating season. Nor does the behaviour tell us anything about the relation between sex and running. They think something goes wrong with the fly’s ability to draw the right conclusion from the very obvious mating signals coming from the male.
Social
The use of social media makes children less happy, shows research at the University of Sheffield. Every hour spent on Whatsapp and the like reduces the overall level of happiness by 14 percent. By way of comparison: being part of a single-parent family means a 4.6 percent drop in happiness. The researchers put the effect down to the constant comparing with each other that goes on online. Girls are particularly affected and lose confidence as a result.