Daphe Cockshott, age 1, of Santa Maria, Calif., for her question:

HOW FAST CAN A FLY FLY?

An ordinary housefly could travel about 4 1/2 miles in one hour. However, as we all know, she never flies very far in a straight line. She darts this way and that, setting down every moment or so to eat or wash her face. Often she walks part of the way. And because she has very sticky paws, she can walk upside down on the ceiling.

When a fly is in the air, she beats her tiny shiny wings 2,000 times a second. This is so fast that they look blurred  or most likely we cannot see them at all. If she decided to fly in a straight line for a change, she could fly faster than you can walk.