Insect with a bi-propellant hypergolic rocket engine!
I don't believe that they produce enough thrust to propel themselves. Instead they direct the rocket blast at enemies trying to eat them.
But give them a few more million years to evolve their abilities and they may be rocketing around, perhaps even in space.
![[Image: GIt5S6IWAAA4mgI?format=jpg&name=small]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GIt5S6IWAAA4mgI?format=jpg&name=small)
(Mar 16, 2024 07:36 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]Insect with a bi-propellant hypergolic rocket engine!
I don't believe that they produce enough thrust to propel themselves. Instead they direct the rocket blast at enemies trying to eat them.
But give them a few more million years to evolve their abilities and they may be rocketing around, perhaps even in space.
Looking at that illustration might make you wonder if such an evolved device can get any better. I mean it looks pretty much a finished product. I can see why god design proponents can be anti evolutionists, the defence mechanism seems perfect. Is it?
To me it’s a snapshot in time. This is the model that currently favours the flame thrower ass bug but at the same time evolution is working on improving the capabilities of potential predators, breaking down that defence. An arms race actually taking place that this bug is winning…at least for now. This advantage could last for a very long time or maybe not. I’d like to see what this bugs ancestors were like in the past or what advantage predators had back then. Too bad there’s no time lapse cameras that cover millions of years.
The basic reusable rocket plan is so good - maybe GM versions of the beetle could fly further and faster .. think big, think orbeetle.
For your viewing pleasure
(although it's bound to start someone tapping at the door about licensing :/)
(Mar 18, 2024 12:16 AM)confused2 Wrote: [ -> ]The basic reusable rocket plan is so good - maybe GM versions of the beetle could fly further and faster .. think big, think orbeetle.
That thought was captured in the fictional Starship Troopers movie. Plasma Bugs were able to fire a seemingly endless supply of nasty surprises out their rear ends that were not only deadly accurate on land but through space also.