How do electric eels make their own electricity?
River Lightning Factory
How do electric eels make their own electricity?
Deep in the rivers of South America, there swims a fish that can shock you with 600 volts of electricity — enough to light up a string of light bulbs or knock a full-grown horse off its feet. How does the electric eel do it? The answer is hiding inside its body, in thousands of tiny living batteries.
First, a secret: the electric eel isn't actually an eel at all. It's a kind of knifefish that breathes air like you do, popping up to the surface every few minutes for a gulp. But the really wild part is what fills most of its six-foot body — about 80% of it is one giant electricity-making organ.
