Christmas Tree Powered By Electric Eel
The aquarium placed its "E-Tree" next to tan electric eel in a tank. Inside the tank, copper wiring has been run, and every time the eel brushes against the conductive wire, the tree's ornaments light up, much to the pleasure of spectators.
Tanks filled with electric eels and lots of copper wire aren't going to allow any of us to drop off the grid anytime soon, but still, it's a neat trick, no?
According to Wikipedia, electric eels generate electricity using three organs -- the main organ, hunter's organ, and Sachs organ -- that take up four fifths of its body. These organs act in a manner similar to charged plates in a battery. The average electric eel can produce up to 500 volts and one ampere of current (500 watts). That's enough to hurt -- a lot.
Oh, and electric eels aren't eels. They're more closely related to catfish.
Gallery: Electric Eels
From Ubergizmo
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jhal1270 @ Dec 5th 2007 11:38AM
500 volts at 1 amp is way more then enough to kill a human. 1 amp with enough voltage to overcome the body's internal resistance is all it takes, as low as 20 volts in the right circumstances.
jim @ Dec 7th 2007 1:37PM
The "freezing current"-- at which a human loses muscular control-- is about 6 milliamperes, about 1/160th of an amp. The resistance of a dry human is about 10,000 ohms, but that drops rapidly if a person is in shock. So a voltage of 100 volts, between two points on a human, will probably cause "freezing" and may induce cardiac fibrillation, i.e., destroy the heart's rhythm...
joshmord12 @ Dec 11th 2007 4:43PM
You cited Wikipedia in your article. As a news reporter, is that the best you can do?