Is there actually any biologic mechanism to generat and conduct electricity at a high enough voltage and current that it can ionize air over a distance as large as that (looks like at least 1/2m) without damaging the actual animal doing it?
Looking around, electric eels can do 860V, which is well short from the 15kV needed to gap 0.5m of air at sea level, plus that animal’s skin would need to be crazy insulating for all that power to not just go down the most highly conductive way possible (all the nice conductive water all the way down to the ground contained in the animal itself) instead of having to ionize 0.5m or air.
I mean, we can always claim it was possible but lost, but then again we can also claim that for magic or animal teleportation.
It’s actually not ionizing the air. It’s spraying a conductive gel that the electricity rides to the prey. That’s why it’s important to hold it down to the ground to make sure it has good contact with the earth.
yes, but it’s extremely complicated and bulky. first, you have to have a naked ape. then that ape has to invent science and modern technology. then it has to build an electric grid, and then eventually this becomes possible…
Is there actually any biologic mechanism to generat and conduct electricity at a high enough voltage and current that it can ionize air over a distance as large as that (looks like at least 1/2m) without damaging the actual animal doing it?
Looking around, electric eels can do 860V, which is well short from the 15kV needed to gap 0.5m of air at sea level, plus that animal’s skin would need to be crazy insulating for all that power to not just go down the most highly conductive way possible (all the nice conductive water all the way down to the ground contained in the animal itself) instead of having to ionize 0.5m or air.
I mean, we can always claim it was possible but lost, but then again we can also claim that for magic or animal teleportation.
It’s actually not ionizing the air. It’s spraying a conductive gel that the electricity rides to the prey. That’s why it’s important to hold it down to the ground to make sure it has good contact with the earth.
Uuh, nice - that sounds like it would work.
yes, but it’s extremely complicated and bulky. first, you have to have a naked ape. then that ape has to invent science and modern technology. then it has to build an electric grid, and then eventually this becomes possible…
Well, it’s not actually a “biological” mechanism, though by some definitions of the word one might call it a “natural” mechanism ;)
it’s just a new kind of biology
Or a new kind of Physics.