A microscopic layer of environmental carbon solves a long-standing mystery about static electricity's true origins.

The familiar phenomenon has puzzled researchers for centuries, but experiments are finally making sense of its unruly ...

Seemingly random charging of identical materials depends on the carbonaceous molecules stuck to their surfaces ...

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 ...

A growing body of research is shifting how scientists explain static electricity, pointing to surface contamination and ...

There’s a shocking lack of understanding of the physics underlying this commonplace phenomenon, but researchers are on the ...

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 ...

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