Researchers found a way to harness the fundamental properties of triboelectrification, which most people think of it as ...

Static electricity comes down to the interactive force between electrical charges. At the atomic scale, negative charges are carried by tiny elementary particles called electrons. Most electrons are ...

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 ...

For decades, scientists treated Martian dust storms as mostly mechanical events, driven by wind and sunlight rather than ...

James Gibert, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Hongcheng Tao, postdoctoral researcher, observe their test apparatus as it generates an electric charge by rubbing two surfaces ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Researchers discovered different electrical charges build up on the front and back parts of a sliding object, creating a current of static electricity. This explains why petting fur or shuffling along ...