There’s a shocking lack of understanding of the physics underlying this commonplace phenomenon, but researchers are on the case.

Seemingly random charging of identical materials depends on the carbonaceous molecules stuck to their surfaces ...

The familiar phenomenon has puzzled researchers for centuries, but experiments are finally making sense of its unruly behaviours.

WORKING in tanks, manholes, and underground vaults are some of the most dangerous and potentially lethal occupations found in the industrial work environment. Federal, state, and corporate safety ...

A growing body of research is shifting how scientists explain static electricity, pointing to surface contamination and contact history rather than the inherent properties of materials as the primary ...

Scientists at Northwestern University may have figured out why walking on carpet in your socks, petting your furry friend, or rubbing a balloon on your hair creates static electricity. In a new study, ...

Static electricity was first observed in 600 B.C., but researchers have struggled to explain how rubbing causes it. In 2019, researchers discovered nanosized surface deformations at play. The same ...

When microscopic particles of sand, ash, or dust collide in the air, they often exchange a tiny electrical charge. This tiny ...

Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimetres or centimetres.

Northwestern University scientists have made a new contribution to understanding a long-standing phenomenon called static electricity. In their most recent research, the researchers found that such ...

Caterpillars respond defensively to electric fields similar to those emitted by their natural predators, scientists have found. Caterpillars respond defensively to electric fields similar to those ...

Could detecting static electricity be a factor in explaining why treehopper insects have evolved such bizarre body shapes? That is the hypothesis put forward in a new research paper published in ...