How do fish make electricity? - Eleanor Nelsen
- 3,117,067 Views
- 12,506 Questions Answered
- TEDEd Animation
Let’s Begin…
Nearly 350 species of fish have specialized anatomical structures that generate and detect electrical signals. Underwater, where light is scarce, electrical signals offer ways to communicate, navigate, find, and sometimes stun prey. But how do these fish produce electricity? And why? Eleanor Nelsen illuminates the science behind electric fish.
Create and share a new lesson based on this one.
Meet The Creators
- Educator Eleanor Nelsen
- Director Franco Barroeta Fonseca
- Script Editor Eleanor Nelsen
- Producer Franco Barroeta Fonseca
- Art Director Franco Barroeta Fonseca
- Animator Vidal Barrera
- Illustrator Vidal Barrera, Eduardo Sandoval
- Sound Designer Christopher Bullé-Goyri
- Associate Producer Elizabeth Cox, Jessica Ruby
- Content Producer Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
- Narrator Julianna Zarzycki
Additional Resources for you to Explore
Vanderbilt professor and electric-eel expert Ken Catania was curious to see if he could confirm von Humboldt’s account of the leaping eels, so he set out to replicate the experiment. He determined that electric eels would, in fact, throw themselves out of the water to attack a perceived threat, suggesting that Humboldt’s story was likely true. Catania even got video footage of an eel leaping at a fake human arm. You can also read more on Catania’s work demonstrating that electric eels “remote-control” their prey.
Electrocytes are modified muscle. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin have studied the genetics behind the transition from muscle cells to electricity-producing cells, and discovered that this remarkable ability evolved six different times.
Centuries before the invention of anesthesia or modern painkillers, physicians who happened to live near the habitats of strongly electric fish employed their shocks as analgesia. The Romans used the electric torpedo ray to treat headaches and gout, and the Greeks used them during childbirth (in fact, the English word “narcotic” is derived from narke, the Greek word for these rays).
Electrocytes are modified muscle. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin have studied the genetics behind the transition from muscle cells to electricity-producing cells, and discovered that this remarkable ability evolved six different times.
Centuries before the invention of anesthesia or modern painkillers, physicians who happened to live near the habitats of strongly electric fish employed their shocks as analgesia. The Romans used the electric torpedo ray to treat headaches and gout, and the Greeks used them during childbirth (in fact, the English word “narcotic” is derived from narke, the Greek word for these rays).
TED-Ed
Lesson Creator
New York, NY
Create and share a new lesson based on this one.
Meet The Creators
- Educator Eleanor Nelsen
- Director Franco Barroeta Fonseca
- Script Editor Eleanor Nelsen
- Producer Franco Barroeta Fonseca
- Art Director Franco Barroeta Fonseca
- Animator Vidal Barrera
- Illustrator Vidal Barrera, Eduardo Sandoval
- Sound Designer Christopher Bullé-Goyri
- Associate Producer Elizabeth Cox, Jessica Ruby
- Content Producer Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
- Narrator Julianna Zarzycki
More from Discovering the Deep
423,285 views
527,067 views
1,683,369 views
4,760,730 views