Fly Fans Won't Keep Bugs From Crashing Your Barbecue. But Here's What You Can Do.
Wirecutter bought a set of four fans for $49.99, a not-insignificant amount of money. I used the fly fans during some lake-adjacent dining with my colleague Rose Maura Lorre, and then I left two fans with her to continue testing.
We found that even though the area directly under the fan's blades might be fly-free, you need to set up too many of them to make a difference across a table that seats six people. In fact, based on my experience, you'd probably want at least eight of these fans for a family of four.
'If I'm serving a family-style meal, the table top will already be crowded with plates, glasses and dishware,' Rose said. 'Adding three or four Fly Away fans to that clutter, with everyone passing dishes or reaching for condiments, I just think it could turn comical really fast.' Rose went so far as to measure the distance between the edge of the fan blade and the spot where she saw an offending critter alight on her table; it was about 8.5 inches.
These fans have several positive aspects: They're quiet and portable, and they don't use chemical pest control. But all two of the bug researchers I contacted were dubious about the efficacy of fly fans.
The theory is that a fly fan disrupts the visual and olfactory senses of flies, and that prevents them from wanting to land on the delicious-smelling food. But this may be only a temporary blocker, Michael 'Fly Man' Dickinson, who researches how flies fly at CalTech, said in a video interview.
The air movement generated by the fly fan isn't fast enough to throw them off-course. 'Flies are attracted to food,' Changlu Wang, whose research at Rutgers University focuses on developing urban pest-management technologies, explained in an email. 'It is hard to prevent them [from] coming when you have attractive food around.'
Even if the flies are initially deterred, their motivation to access the yummies is likely stronger than the spinning obstacle. And when flies do manage to land on your burger, the slowly circulating blades may actually stop them from taking off again. 'Flies can only fly so fast, so if they know there's going to be headwinds that they can't deal with, they won't take off,' Dickinson explained.
The experts I consulted aren't aware of a peer-reviewed scientific study that verifies a fly fan's efficacy, and my observed results were anecdotal.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Geologist has different take on what's behind recent earthquakes in New Jersey
New Jersey's most recent 2.7 magnitude Bergen County-centered earthquake didn't much surprise one geologist, who had predicted the Northeast region would be experiencing a period of increased seismic activity. In 2020, Alexander Gates, a geology professor at Rutgers University Newark campus, said he and one of his graduate students theorized that over the next several years, there would be an upswing of earthquakes in the area. In reviewing the available data, they said they uncovered what will be a 40-year cycle of earthquakes that will periodically rock Metropolitan New York. The most recent quakes appear to be part of that cycle, he said. Story continues below photo gallery. Gates and graduate student Michael Kalczynski brought the information to a meeting of the Geological Society of America. They were not able to get their findings published, but Gates said it doesn't mean they aren't on to something. Gates said he still has the abstract they produced and hopes to someday publish the entire work. From their data, they concluded about five years ago that the New York/New Jersey region was overdue for an earthquake of 3.8 magnitude or greater. Four years later, on April 5, 2024, Gates was vindicated when a 4.8 magnitude earthquake was recorded with an epicenter in Tewksbury Township. The shaking was felt in New Jersey, New York and neighboring states. "If it had published, I'd be famous," he said. Moreover, the same findings also predicted an upswing in quakes throughout the region. He said there were around 200 quakes recorded in 2024, as well as several in 2025, such as Tuesday's 2.7 magnitude earthquake centered near Hillsdale and Saturday's centered in Hasbrouck Heights. Part of the reason he said his theory was glossed over is that it contradicts the current theory that the 200-million-year-old Ramapo Fault is the source of the region's seismic activity. The Ramapo Fault is the largest in the Northeast and runs from Pennsylvania through New Jersey, snaking northeast through Hunterdon, Somerset, Morris, Passaic and Bergen counties before coming to an end in New York's Westchester County. Story continues below video. The most recent quakes, particularly the one in Hasbrouck Heights, are not close to the Ramapo Fault, he said. Gates, however, contends that the newer faults, 65 million years old, caused by the pulling of the region's plates to the east, are the source of the quakes. These faults run throughout the region and even under New York City. While last year's Tewksbury quake released tension along the fault lines, its movement caused tension elsewhere. Subsequent earthquakes can occur to release the tensions created, he said, adding this type of low-level seismic activity can last for several years. The data they've scrutinized has shown a roughly 40-year cycle, which has been going on since at least 1884. The professor, to teach his classes, takes students on field trips to the woods where they can find the faults that run at angles to the Ramapo Fault. How common are earthquakes in the Northeast? To put earthquake magnitudes in perspective, seismologists say each year there are about 900,000 earthquakes of 2.5 magnitude or less recorded by seismographs. These mild tremors are usually not felt. Although in North Jersey, these quakes can often be heard because they are shallow. "The crack you hear is the crack of rock breaking," Gates said. There are also 30,000 quakes annually that measure between 2.5 and 5.4 on the Richter scale, and these are often felt and cause minor damage. About 500 quakes worldwide are recorded between 5.5 and 6 magnitude per year and cause slight damage to buildings and structures. The 100 that fall within 6.1 and 6.9 may cause lots of damage in populated areas. The 20 or so that fall within the 7 and 7.9 magnitude per year are considered major and cause serious damage. Those that measure at 8 or greater can destroy communities near the epicenter and average one every five to 10 years. Earthquakes in the Northeastern United States are intraplate ones, meaning they occur within the plates. Earthquakes of this type account for more than 90% of the total seismic energy released around the world. Plates are the masses of the earth's crust that slowly move, maybe as little as a few centimeters a year to as much as 18 centimeters, around the globe. Faults such as the San Andreas are interplate and occur near where two plates meet. This article originally appeared on Earthquakes in NJ: Geologist has different take on cause Solve the daily Crossword
Atlantic
2 days ago
- Atlantic
Photos: 13 Years on Mars
This week, NASA marks the 13th anniversary of the landing of its Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. Curiosity has now driven more than 22 miles across the cold and dry planet, over the course of 4,620 Martian days, making countless observations and discoveries. August 5, 2025, 1:06 PM ET NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie in November of 2020, at a location nicknamed 'Mary Anning,' after a 19th-century English paleontologist. Curiosity snagged three samples of drilled rock at this site on its way out of the Glen Torridon region, which scientists believe was a site where ancient conditions would have been favorable to supporting life, if it ever was present. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter looked down toward Mars on August 5, 2012, and managed to catch a glimpse of the Curiosity Mars rover as it parachuted to land on the surface. At upper left, you can see two white dots: The upper one is the parachute; the lower, the spacecraft and backshell. JPL-Caltech / MSSS / NASA This image looking toward the higher regions of Mount Sharp was taken on September 9, 2015, by NASA's Curiosity rover. In the foreground, about two miles from the rover, is a long ridge teeming with hematite, an iron oxide. Just beyond is an undulating plane rich in clay minerals, and just beyond that are a multitude of rounded buttes, all high in sulfate minerals. The colors are adjusted so that rocks look approximately as they would if they were on Earth, to help geologists interpret them. This "white balancing" to adjust for the lighting on Mars overly compensates for the absence of blue on Mars, making the sky appear light blue and sometimes giving dark, black rocks a blue cast. Curiosity photographed this feather-shaped iridescent cloud just after sunset on January 27, 2023. Studying the colors in iridescent clouds tells scientists something about particle size within the clouds and how they grow over time. These clouds were captured as part of a follow-on imaging campaign to study noctilucent, or 'night-shining' clouds. While most Martian clouds hover no more than 37 miles (60 kilometers) above the ground and are composed of water ice, these clouds appear to be higher in elevation, where it's very cold. That suggests these clouds are made of carbon dioxide, or dry ice. Scientific instruments mounted on Curiosity's robotic arm examine rocks on the surface on Sol 4616, or July 31, 2025. A drill hole and brush marks left by Curiosity after it collected a powderized rock sample on November 23, 2024. JPL-Caltech / MSSS / NASA A wind-sculpted dune field, observed by Curiosity's mast camera (mastcam) on December 12, 2015, during the 1,190th Martian day of the rover's work on Mars. The location is part of Namib Dune in the Bagnold Dune Field. Two views of a century-old penny on Mars, separated by nearly 13 years. This penny is part of a camera-calibration target attached to Curiosity. The MAHLI camera on the rover took this image during Sol 34 (September 9, 2012). The penny is on the MAHLI calibration target as a tip of the hat to geologists's informal practice of placing a coin or other object of known scale in their photographs. At right, the same penny is seen, rephotographed on June 22, 2025, or Sol 4577, showing almost no visible wear, with only a small coating of dust. JPL-Caltech / MSSS / NASA NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured these clouds just after sunset on March 19, 2021, the 3,063rd Martian day of the rover's mission. The image is made up of 21 individual images stitched together and color-corrected so that the scene appears as it would to the human eye. The clouds are drifting over 'Mont Mercou,' a cliff face that Curiosity has been studying. Smaller than a penny, this flowerlike rock artifact was imaged by Curiosity using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on February 24, 2022. The 'flower,' along with the spherical rock artifacts seen to the right, were made in the ancient past when minerals carried by water cemented the rock. JPL-Caltech / Malin Space Science Systems / Texas A&M University / NASA A view of the two moons of Mars comes from a set of images taken by Curiosity as the larger moon, Phobos, passed in front of the smaller one, Deimos, on August 1, 2013. Curiosity casts a shadow, with its robotic arm raised, seen on Sol 4561, or June 5, 2025. Nearly 13 years of wear and tear have left parts of Curiosity's wheels damaged. Seen on Sol 4518, or April 22, 2025. Curiosity spotted this dust devil with one of its Navigation Cameras at about 11:35 a.m. local Mars time on August 9, 2020, while it was at the Mary Anning drill site. This dust devil was estimated to be about 16 feet (5 meters) wide. Contrast has been modified to make the dust easier to see. JPL-Caltech / MSSS / NASA This view from Curiosity's Mastcam shows a hillside outcrop with layered rocks within the 'Murray Buttes' region on lower Mount Sharp, seen on September 8, 2016. The buttes and mesas rising above the surface in this area are eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed. Curiosity prepares to leave Gediz Vallis channel, an area that scientists believe may once have held flowing water, on Sol 4321, or October 2, 2024. JPL-Caltech / MSSS / NASA These yellow crystals were revealed after Curiosity happened to drive over a rock and crack it open on May 30, 2024. Using an instrument on the rover's arm, scientists later determined these crystals are elemental sulfur—the first time this kind of sulfur has been found on the Red Planet. Curiosity left a track in a sandy spot on Sol 2408, or May 15, 2019. Curiosity used its Mastcam to capture this mosaic of Gediz Vallis on November 7, 2022, its 3,646th Martian day. JPL-Caltech / LANL / CNES / IRAP / LPGNantes / CNRS / IAS / MSSS / NASA The dark, golf-ball-size object in this colorized view from the Curiosity's Chemistry and Camera instrument shows a grid of shiny dots where ChemCam had fired laser pulses used to determine the chemical elements in the target's composition. The analysis confirmed that this object, informally named 'Egg Rock,' is an iron-nickel meteorite. JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / NASA The Curiosity rover appears as a dark speck in this contrast-enhanced view captured by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on February 28, 2025. Trailing behind Curiosity are the rover's tracks, which can linger on the Martian surface for months before being erased by the wind. JPL-Caltech / MSSS / Texas A&M University / NASA Curiosity captured this view of the sun setting at the close of the mission's 956th Martian day (April 15, 2015), from the rover's location in Gale Crater. This was the first sunset observed in color by Curiosity. On July 26, 2025, Curiosity demonstrated a new multitasking capability while capturing this view. It snapped the 15 images that make up the mosaic while simultaneously communicating with an orbiter. The rover's tracks cross through a region filled with boxwork formations—hardened ridges created by mineral deposits from subsurface water billions of years ago. This boxwork region is in the lower foothills of Mount Sharp, a three-mile-tall mountain in the center of Gale Crater.
New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Fly Fans Won't Keep Bugs From Crashing Your Barbecue. But Here's What You Can Do.
If these fans do work, the radius for efficacy is extremely limited. While dining outdoors with a Fly Fan, my colleague Rose Maura Lorre saw a fly land on the corner of a pack of hot dog buns. She got out a tape measure and found that the distance between the outer edge of the fan's blades and the fly's location was about 8 or 9 inches. Rose Maura Lorre/NYT Wirecutter Wirecutter bought a set of four fans for $49.99, a not-insignificant amount of money. I used the fly fans during some lake-adjacent dining with my colleague Rose Maura Lorre, and then I left two fans with her to continue testing. We found that even though the area directly under the fan's blades might be fly-free, you need to set up too many of them to make a difference across a table that seats six people. In fact, based on my experience, you'd probably want at least eight of these fans for a family of four. 'If I'm serving a family-style meal, the table top will already be crowded with plates, glasses and dishware,' Rose said. 'Adding three or four Fly Away fans to that clutter, with everyone passing dishes or reaching for condiments, I just think it could turn comical really fast.' Rose went so far as to measure the distance between the edge of the fan blade and the spot where she saw an offending critter alight on her table; it was about 8.5 inches. These fans have several positive aspects: They're quiet and portable, and they don't use chemical pest control. But all two of the bug researchers I contacted were dubious about the efficacy of fly fans. The theory is that a fly fan disrupts the visual and olfactory senses of flies, and that prevents them from wanting to land on the delicious-smelling food. But this may be only a temporary blocker, Michael 'Fly Man' Dickinson, who researches how flies fly at CalTech, said in a video interview. The air movement generated by the fly fan isn't fast enough to throw them off-course. 'Flies are attracted to food,' Changlu Wang, whose research at Rutgers University focuses on developing urban pest-management technologies, explained in an email. 'It is hard to prevent them [from] coming when you have attractive food around.' Even if the flies are initially deterred, their motivation to access the yummies is likely stronger than the spinning obstacle. And when flies do manage to land on your burger, the slowly circulating blades may actually stop them from taking off again. 'Flies can only fly so fast, so if they know there's going to be headwinds that they can't deal with, they won't take off,' Dickinson explained. The experts I consulted aren't aware of a peer-reviewed scientific study that verifies a fly fan's efficacy, and my observed results were anecdotal.
