Why do bugs fly into your lights?An ancient instinct goes wrong in the modern world.

From the show

Science Around You

It’s a common sight: insects endlessly circling a porch light. This isn't an act of love, but a fatal programming error. Moths and other insects use the brightest object in the sky to navigate, which for millennia was the moon or stars. Artificial lights hijack this ancient instinct. The insects try to keep the light source above them, but because the lamp is so close, it sends their internal GPS into a disoriented spiral, trapping them in a tragic and mesmerizing dance.