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 ...

Static electricity often just seems like an everyday annoyance when a wool sweater crackles as you pull it off, or when a doorknob delivers an unexpected zap. Regardless, the phenomenon is much more ...

Rub a balloon on your hair and the balloon typically picks up a negative electric charge, while your hair goes positive. But a new study shows that the charge an object picks up can depend on its ...

A parasitic worm uses static electricity to launch itself onto flying insects, a mechanism uncovered by physicists and ...

Frying a computer component with static is one of those things that very rarely ever happens. Yet it can happen, as I found out recently through personal experience — when building a new PC, I made a ...

If you rub two identical balloons together, they both pick up a static charge. This behavior is strange and unexpected, but it’s been documented in the scientific literature. When our host George ...

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 ...

(Reuters) - The explosion that destroyed the Hindenburg was caused by static electricity and a buildup of hydrogen after the dirigible flew through a thunderstorm, according to a team of experts, the ...