Really interesting story. The galvanic pile described in the article, the first battery, was invented by Volta after he examined the anatomy of the electric stingray and noticed the layered structure:
<a href="http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/01/have-a-scientific-problem-steal-an-answer-from-nature/3/" rel="nofollow">http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/01/have-a-scientific-pro...</a>