New specie of Bacteria that eat electricity
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That's the food you get your energy from
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As you may recall from high school biology, almost every living organism consumes sugar (glucose) to survive. When it gets right down to it, everything you eat is ultimately converted or digested into single molecules of glucose. Without going into the complexities of
respiration and metabolism (ATP!), these sugars have excess electrons — and the oxygen you breathe in really wants those electrons. By ferrying electrons from sugar to oxygen, a flow of electrons — i.e. energy is created, which is then used to carry out various vital tasks around your body (triggering electrons, beating your heart, etc.)
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That's what they eat
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Some intrepid biologists at the University of Southern California (USC) have discovered bacteria that survives on nothing but electricity — rather than food (sugar), they eat and excrete pure electrons.
These special bacteria, however, don’t need no poxy sugars — instead, they cut out the middleman and feed directly on electrons.
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Artist's illustration of bacteria
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To discover these bacteria, and to cultivate them in the lab, the USC biologists quite simply scooped up some sediment from the ocean, took it back to the lab, stuck some electrodes into it, and then turned on the power. When higher voltages are pumped into the water, the bacteria “eats” electrons from the electrode; when a lower voltage is present, the bacteria “exhales” electrons onto the electrode, creating an electrical current (which could be used to power a device, if you were so inclined). The USC study very carefully controlled for other sources of nutrition — these bacteria were definitely eating electrons directly.
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