Science is n’t always just swanning around with test tubes in a shiny aura - conditioned research lab . Quite often , knowledge has to come from suffering . For example , the entomologistwho sting himselfwith insects to document their toxicity and pain .
Now , taking up this mantelpiece , a biologist has let an electric eel shock him to document the sensation of the electric jerking and realise the menses of electricity . His valiant feat were made as part of a new field of study in the journalCurrent Biology . He also take the experimentation ( television below ) for your viewing pleasance .
It turn out , it anguish a fair amount . The transcription showed that the eel can trigger an electric stream of 40 - 50 milliamps . While that is n’t enough to vote out a human or most animals , it ’s enough to give them a jolly unpleasant zap , sufficient enough for them to back off .
" It ’s impressive that a little eel could deliver that much electricity,“explains Kenneth Catania of Vanderbilt University in astatement . " We do n’t make love the main driver of the behavior , but they demand to discourage predators , and I can tell you it ’s really good at that . I ca n’t imagine an beast that had received this [ jounce ] perplex around . "
Scientists have be intimate for 100 of class that electrical eels leap out of the body of water to scandalize their enemies . Famed philosopher and scientist Alexander von Humboldt observe this behavior around 200 old age ago , after witnessing a fight between electric eel and horses in the Amazon . Catania says that " no one really necessarily think it , or if they did , they thought it was just kind of uncanny . " Whatever they conceive , it was more or less blank out .
Catania haspreviously studiedthis leap technique and show how it aid keep the eel ' electrical firing off nice and warm by ensuring it does n’t dissipate through the water . His latest experiment was to try and learn more about the electrical circuit of electricity that the eel creates by leaping out of the water . Unfortunately , he had to become part of that electrical circuit . He developed a specialized piece of music of equipment that accurately assess the strong point of the galvanic flow through his arm .
Through this interface , he is able to understand how muscular the shock absorber will be base on the sizing of the eel and the circumstances of the jar .
" We ’ve known these animals give off a huge amount of electricity , and everybody thought that was really amazing,“Catania says . “But they are n’t just wide-eyed animals that go around shocking stuff and nonsense . They ’ve germinate to produce strong and stronger electric firing , and in concert they ’ve evolved these conduct to more efficiently use them . "
