The beetle shows the way

2004/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Teknologia

This beetle, Melanophila acuminate, is a live detector. Once the fire is detected, go to the burned area to lay eggs on the burned logs. Thanks to this, newborn beetles have no competence. To detect fires, the beetle has a few tiny discs under the wings. These special discs absorb infrared radiation of 3 micrometers, the main wavelength emitted by strong fires.

Imitating the scarab discs, researchers have manufactured polyethylene detectors. They are believed to be installed in homes and are expected to, along with the GPS system, provide complete and detailed fire information. The sensors used now detect smoke and they detect heat and therefore will have fewer errors. In addition, the use of sensors will be much cheaper than aircraft and satellite surveillance.