• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Bombardier Beetle Engineering

Bombardier Beetle Engineering

June 7, 2018
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/180607_sciup_beetle.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Brachinus_sp Patrick Coin CC BY-SA 2.5 Wikipedia
Brachinus bombardier beetle (Patrick Coin/Wikipedia/Creative Commons License BY-SA 2.5)

Engineering tips from a beetle’s bottom. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

The brachinini bombardier beetle defends itself by shooting rapid pulses of toxic spray from glands in its rear end. MIT engineer Eric Arndt and his colleagues report in the journal Science that the beetle gland has two chambers—one a reservoir for reactive chemicals, and another where those chemicals combine explosively. A valve in between gets slammed shut during an explosion, then swings open, letting in more chemicals. Arndt says the result is a rapid fusillade of toxic bursts, accomplished with admirable simplicity.

ERIC ARNDT (MIT):

You look at a car engine, or airplane engine, you know, hundreds of parts. And essentially, you’re using chemical energy to do work but you’re using hundreds of parts to make that happen. The beetle is using a single part.

HIRSHON:

He says the design could serve as inspiration for human devices, like simple, reliable fuel injectors or aircraft thrusters. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Animal Behavior, Biology, Bugs, Chemistry
Previous Post:Bacteria-Busting Robot
Next Post:Bats & Pitcher Plants

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos