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, ...

It’s the basis of some of the best-known classroom demonstrations: a phenomenon that literally makes your hair stand on end. Static electricity — or contact electrification or triboelectricity, to use ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Static electricity is so commonplace that it can come across as simple. Rub a balloon against your head, and the transfer of charges will make your hair stand on end. Shuffle your feet on a carpet, ...

MINNEAPOLIS — When someone touches something and gets shocked, it's awkward and a bit painful. What causes static electricity? And what actually happens when you get shocked? Visitors of the ...

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

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 ...