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

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

Static electricity is so commonplace that it can come across as simple. Other teams are investigating how surface area and velocity during impact might govern charge transfer, and how the breaking ...

Incredibly, for the first time, scientists have unraveled the mechanisms at play when rubbing a surface creates an electrical current, something that was first recorded in 600 BCE yet not fully ...

Static electricity was first observed in 600 BC, but researchers have struggled to explain how it is caused by rubbing. With a better understanding of the mechanisms at play, researchers potentially ...

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, ...

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 ...

A microscopic layer of environmental carbon solves a long-standing mystery about static electricity's true origins.