arries a negative charge of a little less than 100 millivolts on its outside compared to its inside. When the command signal arrives [from a "command nucleus" in the nervous system], the nerve terminal releases a minute puff of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter.
Through nerves on one side of the cell, causing ion channels to open on that side. Sodium ions are able to rapidly enter the cell via these channels . . . [which] alters the equilibrium of the cell. To re-establish [it], potassium ions leave the cell on the other side,. . . .
A transient path with low electrical resistance connecting the inside and outside of the cell. Thus, each cell behaves like a battery with the activated side carrying a negative charge and the opposite side a positive one. Because the cells are oriented inside the electric organ like a series of batteries piled into a flashlight, the current . . . set[s] off an avalanche of activation that runs its course in just two milliseconds. . . [and] creates a short-lived current flowing along the eel's body.
Can Its Energy Be Harnessed?
Scientists have long been impressed with the electrical generating ability of E. electricus, and recent research is leading to uses that may benefit people.
Since 2009, scientists at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, Utah, have been harnessing the power of their resident electric tree to power the lights on the aquarium's Christmas tree.
Essentially, two stainless steel electrodes are attached to Sparky's (the electric fish) tank, and each time Sparky sends out a pulse, which is part of "his natural, normal activity," currents of electricity travel through the electrodes to sequencers that make the lights on the tree flash. Living Planet's marketing director loves the display because it "helps give a visual idea of what an animal really does on a daily basis."
Some medical implants and devices require batteries to power their complex functions. In recent years, scientists have been looking for ways to create "bio-batteries," that "would be just like any oth