eel

Hybrids could have almost as much potential in the air as they do on the ground. Ampaire says the clever first-gen hybrid powertrain in its Electric Eel demonstrator cuts fuel consumption by 50-70%, and it's just logged a world record for endurance.It's not as intuitive as it is with cars, where a hybrid's ability to harvest the braking energy in stop/start traffic makes a vast difference to the overall fuel consumption. Aircraft, of course, tend to run their engines more or less at a constant speed in cruise flight. But…

Electric eels can discharge a staggering 860 volts of energy into their surroundings – over seven times that of a standard US power outlet.That's more than enough voltage to punch holes in cell membranes, allowing large polar molecules like DNA to sneak inside."Electric eels and other organisms that generate electricity could affect genetic modification in nature," says Nagoya University molecular biologist Atsuo Iida, who tested this theory with other researchers in Japan.Led by Shintaro Sakaki, the team had baby…

A giant creature thought to inhabit the waters of Scotland's Loch Ness remains a popular subject of speculation, in spite of pretty thorough debunkings.One of the last plausible explanations for the beast has now too joined the discard pile. After careful investigation, data scientist Floe Foxon of Pinney Associates and the Folk Zoology Society has determined that Nessie sightings are unlikely to be encounters with giant eels."In this new work from the Folk Zoology Society, a much-needed level of scientific rigor and…

A rare deep-sea creature with engorged belly from recent meal…

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An influx of unauthorized elver harvesters prompted Nova Scotia Power to shut down one of its hydro dams last month, and the facility remains on reduced hours because of ongoing illegal fishing at the site.The hydro dam in Head of St. Margarets Bay, at the mouth of North East River, has been the scene of nightly fishing for elvers, before and after the legal fishery was supposedly shut down on April 15.Elvers, also known as baby eels, are Canada's most valuable fish species by weight, selling for up to $5,000 a kilogram…

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's top enforcement officer in the Maritimes says an "unprecedented" number of poachers descended on Nova Scotia and New Brunswick rivers this spring to illegally remove baby eels, also known as elvers.They overwhelmed the department's ability to safely and sustainably manage the most lucrative fishery, by weight, in Canada."Every day the total number of harvesters that didn't have an authorization that we either observed or that were reported to us, numbered in the hundreds," said Timothy Kerr,…