環(huán)球英語 1438 The Fire Beetle
Thank you for joining us for Spotlight! I’m Ryan Geertsma.
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And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Fires like this make many people afraid. It is difficult to control fires. They can cause harm to buildings and property like homes, schools and businesses. But they can also cause a lot of harm to living things like people, animals and insects. When a fire alarm sounds people leave an area immediately. When people, animals, or insects see smoke, they do not stay still; they run in the other direction.
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But there is at least one living thing that reacts to fire in a different way. It is an insect. In fact, when this insect senses fire, it flies directly toward the fire. It needs fire. Today’s Spotlight is on this very unusual insect - the Black Jewel Beetle. The common name for this beetle is the “fire beetle.”
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Fire beetles live in many places around the world. They are small round insects. Their protective shell is also very beautiful. In fact, this is where they get their name. A fire beetle’s shell is covered in bright beautiful colors. This helps the beetle hide in a colorful forest. Fire beetles are beautiful insects. But scientists are particularly interested in the fire beetle because it has an interesting and special ability.
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Fire beetles can sense fire from up to 80 kilometres away. This ability is important to a fire beetle. That is because the burned and destroyed remains of a forest are the perfect place for the fire beetle to lay their eggs! After a large fire has destroyed a forest, the beetle travels to the burned remains. In fact, large groups of beetles meet at the remains. Fire beetles can mate there in peace. No other animals or insects will eat or attack them. All the other animals and insects have run away because of the fire.
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The fire beetles lay their eggs in the burned wood. No other animals or insects will harm the beetles’ eggs. The burned wood is food for the young beetles when they are born. And the young beetles will not have to compete with other insects to live.
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For the fire beetle, eating burned wood is better than eating healthy or living wood. Eating wood from a live tree can be dangerous for a beetle. Living trees can defend themselves against beetles. The trees can produce substances that harm or trap the beetle. Dying or dead trees cannot defend themselves.
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The fire beetle looks almost like any other beetle. But it does have one important difference from other beetles. The fire beetle has very small pits, or holes, on the bottom of its body. The pits are not deep. But scientists who study the fire beetle say that these pits have a very important purpose. The fire beetle uses these pits to sense a fire.
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Professor William George Evans studied insects. In 1960 he studied his first fire beetle. He was especially interested in the pits in the beetle’s body. He believed that the pits told the beetle where there was a fire. He believed that there were many sensors in each pit. These sensors could receive infrared radiation. A fire produces infrared radiation. When the beetle’s sensors received this information they told the beetle where to fly to find the fire. Professor Evans believed that the sensors were very sensitive. He believed they could sense a fire from a great distance.
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For almost 40 years many other scientists did not believe Professor Evans. But today, after years of research, scientists finally agree that the fire beetle can sense fire. In fact, they agree that it is very good at sensing fire!
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Doctor Helmut Schmitz also studied insects. He believed that the fire beetle was able to do even more than Professor Evans said! Doctor Schmitz believed that the fire beetle was able to see, hear and even smell the effects of a fire! And it could do all these things from very far away.
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Each pit in a fire beetle contains about 60 to 70 sensors. Each of these sensors is covered in a small hard ball. This ball of material is the same material that makes up a beetle’s hard shell. These balls are connected to nerves inside the beetle.
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When a forest burns it sends off heat. The heat travels as infrared radiation. Scientists describe infrared radiation in the form of a wave. Scientists also describe light in the form of a wave. Infrared radiation waves are like light, but a different wavelength. And they can travel very far. People cannot see, feel, taste, hear, or touch infrared radiation waves. They cannot sense them at all. But the fire beetle can.
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The infrared radiation travels into the pits on the beetle. It affects the sensors and small round balls. When this happens, the beetles know there is a fire. They travel toward the fire to mate and produce eggs.
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The fire beetle can sense extremely small amounts of infrared radiation waves. It seems like the fire beetle was especially designed to find these particular waves!
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Research teams have studied these beetles very closely. They want to know HOW the beetle’s infrared sensors can identify and find the infrared radiation waves. The scientists think of the fire beetle as a starting point for research. They want to know if they can copy the methods that the fire beetles use to find fire. Scientists want to use the knowledge they gain from their studies to build equipment that senses fire like the fire beetle. Fire fighters believe that using this kind of sensor to find infrared radiation could help to save property and people all over the world. The sensor could find fires while they were still small. It could help prevent large fires.
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When people look at nature it can inspire them. That is, looking at nature encourages people to try new things. It can show people amazing ways to solve problems. Nature is full of mysteries for people to discover! Studying the fire beetle is helping scientists to improve life for many people. Think about all the other things people could learn from nature! It is a beautiful thing when people and nature can work together!
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The writer and producer of this program was Liz Waid. The voices you heard were from the United States. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at https://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called “The Fire Beetle”.
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