Antivirus firms are warning that another computer worm has evaded their radar. Nicknamed Flame, it is described as one of the most complex viruses ever and has the power to cripple national infrastructure. But a full two years after the last major threat – Stuxnet – was discovered, its authors have still not been exposed, although new evidence suggests they work for US and Israeli intelligence (see “Obama ‘gave full backing to Stuxnet attack on Iran’”). So what chance is there of tracking down the creators of this latest threat? Continue reading
The larvae of the pine beetle Melanophila acuminata can only develop by eating wood inside freshly burned trees. In order to provide for their hungry offspring, the Melanophila beetle, known as the black fire beetle, developed an interesting trait. They possess a small external organ (indicated by the arrow in the picture here) that detects infrared heat radiation (such as would be produced in a forest fire) from great distances.