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.jp. That's Y-A-K-U-L-T.C-O.J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacult.

This is Scientific American 60 Second Science.

I'm Annie Sneed.

In the 1800s, renowned explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt observed a bizarre incident in the Amazon.

He saw electric eels leaping into the air and shocking two horses.

But some who heard the story thought Humboldt was a humbug.

Humboldt had described eels attacking horses, but people didn't necessarily believe it.

Kenneth Katanya, a professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University.

But Humboldt was vindicated last year when Katanya published a study showing that electric eels indeed jump in the air to jolt potential predators.

This maneuver is the most efficient way for an eel to deliver its shock.

When the animal is submerged, electricity gets lost to the water.

By going airborne...

The eel is essentially using that principle of physics to divert more and more occurrence into the target.

But Katanya still wanted to know more, like exactly how strong is an eel shock to a human.

To figure out the forces behind this electrifying leap,

Katanya used a relatively small eel and a human subject, himself.

I approached the eel with my hand in the container, which has a metal strip on it,

and the eel decided it was concerned about whatever apparent creature might be coming near it.

...