The California National Guard is asking the public's help in locating a forward-looking infrared camera (FLIR) that apparently fell off a helicopter in flight. According to a news report, the HH-60L Blackhawk helicopter was en route from Mather Field in Sacramento to the Gustine area, near Stockton, Monday morning when the camera disappeared. The camera, which is about the size and shape of a basketball, weighs about 96 pounds. Guard officials emphasized it does not pose a hazard to the public. The news report said the device has been instrumental in several recent rescues of hikers stranded in the Sierra Nevada. Anyone finding the FLIR pod is asked to call the California National Guard's Joint Operations Center at (916) 854-3440.    . . .    Medi-photonics Development Company LLC, the New York subsidiary of Cherry Hill, N.J.-based Mediscience Technology Corp., and the Infotonics Technology Center Inc., in Canandaigua, N.Y., have announced a collaborative research and development agreement for the development of Mediscience's Compact Photonic Explorer (CPE), or "pill camera," a miniature remote-control device that travels through the digestive system and uses ultraviolet light to detect cancer or other abnormalities. The CPE will be commercialized by Mediscience for medical and nonmedical applications. Research is led by Robert Alfano and a team at City University of New York. The Infotonics Technology Center operates New York State's Center of Excellence in Photonics and Microsystems. It is a consortium with founding participants Corning Inc., Eastman Kodak Co. and Xerox Corp.