To investigate responses in Drosophila melanogaster, she performed experiments dropping black discs from different angles, on a collision course with the flies. Capturing the responses on video, she showed that flies escaped by means of jumping in a forward fashion and directly away from the object, in addition to using their wings. Her results suggest that signals in the brain transferred via the 'giant fibre pathway', initiate a "take-off" sequence, involving stretching of the legs and depression of the wings that can move the fly in a specific direction.
Previous studies did not detect directional jumping1, but observations were made in conjunction with non-directional stimuli such as switching lights on and off. Card's results imply that there could be a simple neural solution that "answers" questions within what is essentially a reflex arc.