Butterfly Wings Inspire Better Temperature Sensors

To build a better infrared sensor, a team of scientists turned to the wings of a butterfly for inspiration.
The group, led by Radislav Potyrailo, a principal scientist at General Electric, coated a butterfly wing with carbon nanotubes. The result was an infrared sensor that was more sensitive and had higher resolution than current models...
Potyrailo doesn't plan to harvest butterflies to build sensors, though. "We have artificial materials that are better," he said. And there is a lot of work yet to be done on actually constructing something to bring to market.
"We're definitely far from a commercial product," he said. "This is only a tiny step. But we're happy that it gives us inspiration.

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