...the jewel beetle, or Melanophila acuminate...distinguishing characteristic is that it craves fire, for breeding purposes. At the first sign of a conflagration, apparently, all jewel beetles in the area fly straight into it and have a huge orgy.*
It does not come as any surprise that the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) in the US can see the massive military potential for a new generation of supersensitive, miniature, robust, uncooled, infrared detectors inspired by a humble heat-seeking beetle.
story *News of the Weird Pro Edition
Posted by Cieciel at March 30, 2005 02:12 AM