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Science
Timothy J. Jorgensen, Director of the Health Physics and Radiation Protection Graduate Program and Professor of Radiation Medicine, Georgetown University

Electric eels inspired the first battery two centuries ago and now point a way to future battery technologies

Prepare to be stunned by a technology that nature perfected. maradek/iStock via Getty Images

As the world’s need for large amounts of portable energy grows at an ever-increasing pace, many innovators have sought to replace current battery technology with something better.

Italian physicist Alessandro Volta tapped into fundamental electrochemical principles when he invented the first battery in 1800. Essentially, the physical joining of two different materials, usually metals, generates a chemical reaction that results in the flow of electrons from one material to the other. That stream of electrons represents portable energy that can be harnessed to generate power.

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