A new study suggests time passes more slowly for small animals because they perceive more in a shorter period of time.
Flies are able to avoid a deadly newspaper swat by observing "motion on finer [timescale]" than humans could ever imagine, a Trinity College Dublin press release reported.
"Having eyes that send updates to the brain at much higher frequencies than our eyes do is of no value if the brain cannot process that information equally quickly. Hence, this work highlights the impressive capabilities of even the smallest animal brains. Flies might not be deep thinkers but they can make good decisions very quickly," Professor Graeme Ruxton of the University of St Andrews in Scotland, said.
The phenomenon can be compared to the "bullet scene" in the movie "The Matrix," where the main character is able to dodge the bullets by watching them come at him in slow motion.
The tiger beetle runs so quickly that its eyes cannot keep up, rendering it blind. The insect must stop every now and then to take in the position of its prey.
"Our results lend support to the importance of time perception in animals where the ability to perceive time on very small scales may be the difference between life and death for fast moving organisms such as predators and their prey," lead author Kevin Healy, PhD student at the Trinity College School of Natural Sciences, said.
Perception of time varies from organism to organism through a phenomenon known as "critical flicker fusion frequency."
The phenomenon is gauged by the maximum number of light flashes an animal can take in beforethey appear to be one constant light source. This is why humans rarely perceive a flickering television, but dogs are able to see it. Canines have a "refresh rate higher than the screen of the TV."
"Animals may also use variation in time perception to send covert signals, for example, many species using flashing lights as signals, such as fireflies and many deep-sea animals. Larger and slower predator species may not be able to decode these signals if their visual system isn't fast enough, giving the signallers a secret channel of communication," Dr. Luke McNally from the University of Edinburgh, said.
