A pink elephant balloon, one of the entries in the Canadian Hot Air Balloon Championships, lands in a field in High River September 27, 2013. The event is a qualifier for the World Hot Air Balloon Championships in Sao Paulo in 2014. (Photo by Mike Sturk/Reuters)

Staff members clean the court during the Women's Preliminary Round - Pool B volleyball match between China and Argentina on day ten of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Arena on August 2, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Racegoers in fashionable hats attend Ladies Day at Cheltenham Festival on March 15, 2017 in Cheltenham, England. (Photo by David Davies/PA Wire)

Hidden Britain category winner. Garden Spider by Alan Smith from Reading, Berkshire. (Photo by Alan Smith/British Wildlife Photography Awards/PA Wire Press Association)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, competes in the women's high jump competition at the Wanda Diamond League Final 2025 athletics meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, Wednesday, August 27, 2025. (Photo by Til Buergy/Keystone via AP Photo)

Japan's computer giant Fujitsu employee displays the world's first personal computer with Intel's RealSense 3D camera “FMV Esprimo” in Tokyo on October 9, 2014. The new desktop PC with 23-inch LCD display can make avatars which mimic the user's look and motion for chatting on the Internet. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

Once upon a time a myth was born that insects, unlike animals, are just a machines that not capable of learning and survive only based on their instincts. That myth has become the widespread opinion. Of course, this opinion is indeed erroneous, like many other widespread opinions. Let us try to find out which part is a myth and which part is true.

Aviator Frantisek Hadrava moves Vampira, an ultralight plane based on the U.S.-design of light planes called Mini-Max, out of a garage in the village of Zdikov, Czech Republic, August 23, 2016. Frantisek thought driving to work for 14 minutes was too much, so he built an plane to cut the commute by half. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)