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 ...

The original story “ Physicists solved a decades-old mystery about static electricity ” is published in The Brighter Side of ...

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

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

Static electricity may seem simple. Students often learn that rubbing a balloon against their hair will cause negatively ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. There's a reason you may notice it more in the winter. Excess static electricity is always a shock to the system—literally—but if ...

The imbalance of charges that takes place with this fun phenomenon typically happens when two different materials come into contact and then are separated. In the experience, one of the materials may ...

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 ...

Ticks can be attracted across gaps of air much larger than themselves by the static their hosts naturally accumulate, likely making it much easier for the creatures to latch onto hosts, University of ...