Let’s play a fun game of “Real or Dr.
Who alien.” Creatures that eat electricity?
Yeah, those are totally real.
Hi everyone, Julian here for DNews. Some people
live to eat. I eat to live. Seriously, the
idea that I have to feed this stupid body
every day until I die sounds exhausting. I
wish I could just plug into a wall, charge
overnight, and go about my day.
Of course that’s not how things work. Everyone
needs food, and I should be grateful that
I get it because it’s game over if I don’t.
If you remember high school biology, it all
has to do with cellular respiration. Your
cells break down glucose from the food, runs
it through a three step process, and by the
end of it you get the energy your cells need
to do work in the form of adenosine triphosphate,
or ATP.
The last step of that process, oxidative phosphorylation,
is the real moneymaker. Basically electrons
are transported down a chain and eventually
combine with oxygen. The process forces protons
across a membrane and in order to normalize
the electrochemical gradient, the protons
travel through a pump that generates tons
of ATP. That’s also why you need to breathe:
without the oxygen the electrons have nowhere
to go and you die. Side note: cyanide kills
you because it keeps oxygen and electrons
from combining and you die. So not enough
oxygen or too much cyanide and your cells
run out of energy and starve themselves and
you die. Isn’t learning fun?
Anyway some bacteria decided that the first
two steps of cellular respiration were for
chumps and cut straight to the good part.
They literally absorb electrons from the surrounding
rocks or metals and use them to create ATP.
In a sense, they’re eating electricity.
And they may be more common than you think.
It’s not that there’s just one species
of electric bugs, but thus far at least two
genera have been discovered: Shewanella and
Geobacter. And they have some interesting
practical uses. By making electrons flow they
generate a current, so it’s possible they
could be used as a living fuel cell. Some
Geobacter species can also be used to help
clean up the environment. For example one
species can clean groundwater contaminated
with uranium by using the uranium ion as an
electron acceptor. This changes it from a
form that dissolves easily in water to one
that doesn’t. The uranium falls out of the
water, and all you have to do is scoop it
up. Albeit with some nice thick gloves on.
These bacteria can also give us new ideas
of what life can look like, and the bare minimum
amount of energy needed to sustain it. When
we’re scouring alien worlds, maybe we’ll
put some electrodes in the ground and see
if anybody shows up for dinner.
Speaking of scouring alien worlds, the internet
is full of them, and you can set up your very
own. No domain extension will help you tell
your story like a DOT COM or DOT NET domain
name. And because you watch DNews, you can
get 15% off Domain Dot Com’s names and web
hosting by using the code DNews when you check
out.
In the search for extraterrestrial life, bacteria
is probably your best bet because everything
down here on earth is just loaded with the
stuff…
Everything. If you want to become a germaphobe,
check out Julia’s video.
What’s the strangest life form you’ve
heard of?
Want us to do a vid on it?
Let us know in the comments, subscribe for
more, and I’ll see you next time on DNews.
