Zaps of static electricity are commonplace in everyday life. But can static electricity give enough of a jolt to start a fire? Static electricity is the result of an imbalance between negative and ...

This seemingly trivial observation was the first documentation of static electricity. For over 2,600 years, scientists have grappled with understanding what caused this strange effect in detail.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Researchers in Purdue’s College of Engineering have developed an apparatus to generate and measure gas breakdown during contact electrification — the process responsible for ...

The Stewart C. Meyer Harker Heights Public Library’s Science Time program on Wednesday afternoon held an experiment on static electricity that used only a few materials.

The same force that zaps us in the winter may be how a summer parasite gets around. Dan Smith highlights new research between ticks and static electricity, in your "Moment of Science".

Incredibly, for the first time, scientists have unraveled how static electricity works, something first recorded in 600 BCE but not fully understood until now. While cats are not the only culprits ...

The ghost moves due to static electricity, which is a buildup of an electric charge. Rubbing the balloon against the shirt builds up negative charges on the surface of the balloon.

Ticks brought near objects with a static charge frequently get pulled to those surfaces, a new study finds, suggesting one way the bugs find hosts.

Could detecting static electricity be a factor in explaining why treehopper insects have evolved such bizarre body shapes?

Some moths and butterflies, including the European peacock butterfly pictured here, can accumulate static electricity, new research shows. The charges may be strong enough to draw pollen from flowers.