NationStates Jolt Archive

Electric eel used to power Xmas lights

KAKAMIGAHARA, Gifu -- An aquarium filled with exotic fish here is using an electric eel to power lights on a Christmas tree.

Each time the electric eel at the Aqua Toto Gifu aquarium touches a copper wire in its tank, it sends power that lights up globes decking a Christmas tree.

Officials expect the "eel Christmas tree" to be a popular attraction for dating couples in the lead-up to Christmas Day, when the tree will be removed.

Electric eels are capable of generating electricity in their bodies. They have notoriously poor eyesight and use electric shocks to stun prey so they can catch and eat them.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071203p2a00m0na017000c.html

Hmmm... I didn't think any of the varieties of electric fish could produce the sustained output to do this. I wonder how it's being done.

The electric eel might be providing some power to a battery which is in turn powering the christmas lights, but my guess is that the tree is just plugged into the mains, on the sly.

I love that Wesley Willis song about electric eels.

The electric eel might be providing some power to a battery which is in turn powering the christmas lights, but my guess is that the tree is just plugged into the mains, on the sly.

It does seem rather.... err, fishy....

Can a single heavy jolt be captured in battery form? It does indeed seem fishy, despite my lack of electrical background.

I suspect that when the eel touches the copper wire, it acts as a light switch. It isn't providing the actual power to the tree, it's just triggering the power.

*goes to hell* (http://megavideo.com/?v=0MIA8EWH)