In 600 BCE, Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus noticed that when he rubbed fur on amber, the fur attracted dust. That tiny charge generated came to be known as static electricity. You might know it ...

The spinning steel and plastic components of a combine, insulated from the ground by rubber tires and plastic skid shoes on small grain platforms, have been proven to create a static electric charge ...

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 ...

Incredibly, for the first time, scientists have unraveled the mechanisms at play when rubbing a surface creates an electrical current, something that was first recorded in 600 BCE yet not fully ...

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, ...

Static electricity is the buildup of an electrical charge on the surface of an object. Lightning is the most dramatic and potentially lethal example of static discharge. A far more benign illustration ...

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 ...

To put it simply, static electricity is the small buildup of electrical charge on the surface of an object. It occurs when materials rub against each other and the friction often comes with a transfer ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...