Cable 'live'

Scientists have identified bacteria that act as conductors of electricity, a source of mysterious currents in nature.

Three years ago, scientists discovered mysterious currents running through the seabed, but they could not understand where the power was coming from.

Recently, Danish and American experts said that they had found the answer after discovering bacteria that acted as electric cables, with each small part of it containing bundles of insulated wires capable of transmitting currents. electricity from one individual to another.

Bacteria are capable of conducting electricity on the seabed

According to expert Nils Risgaard-Petersen, Christian Pfeffer and colleagues at Aarhus University (Denmark), they began to suspect when the appearance of a long-lived, multicellular bacterium has never been known. They are always present nearby whenever an electric current appears.

On closer inspection, experts found bacteria, which were hundreds of times more dense than human hair, contained wires of nanoscale, and these wires had a covering film.

Experts conclude that the entire organism acts as a virtual power cable, much like the cable system used in human daily life, according to a Nature report.

They hypothesize that such a mechanism allows strange bacteria to have an advantage over those of other seabed residents.

Together, when gathering in a quiet place, they can stretch tens of thousands of kilometers of electric cable in an area of ​​1m ² . The ability to generate electricity allows them to harvest energy from the decomposition of food in the seabed.

In fact, a teaspoon of mud can also contain up to 1km of live electric cable made from bacteria.

The findings could lead to a whole new generation of electronic bioelectric energy devices, including devices that can be implanted in the human body.