Ancient Greeks discovered that when animal fur and amber were rubbed together, the fur could be used to attract feathers, glass dust and other lightweight objects. It wasn’t until 1600 AD, however, ...

Static electricity is a ubiquitous part of everyday life. It's all around us, sometimes funny and obvious, as when it makes your hair stand on end, sometimes hidden and useful, as when harnessed by ...

Static electricity is one of those everyday phenomena that turns out to be much more complicated than you might expect.

The first documentation of static electricity dates back to 600 BCE. Even after 2,600 years’ worth of tiny shocks, however, researchers couldn’t fully explain how rubbing two objects together causes ...

Scientists have finally figured out the core mechanism behind static electricity. First discovered in 600 B.C., the underlying physics behind this phenomenon have been a mystery for thousands of years ...

Static electricity is an imbalance in the amount of positive and negative charges found with in the surface of an object. The sudden flow of static electricity or Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can ...

Ticks can be attracted across air gaps several times larger than themselves by the static electricity that their hosts naturally accumulate, researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered.

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, ...

From getting out of the car to hair standing on end — small zaps strike many of us at this time of year. So why does it happen? The prevalence of static electricity was all due to the weather, ...

Zapping someone with your finger is sure to elicit a lot of laughs when you’re 11, but static electricity is one of those things that loses its magic with age. After all, it’s the bane of good hair ...