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, ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. When hair picks up an electrostatic charge, the strands repel each other and stand on end. Static electricity is so commonplace ...

As humans we often think we have a pretty good handle on the basics of the way the world works, from an intuition about gravity good enough to let us walk around, play baseball, and land spacecraft on ...

Door handles, taps, playground slides, furry pets… Getting zapped by static electricity is a common experience. But the physics that causes the spark is surprisingly intricate. If you're getting ...

When microscopic particles of sand, ash, or dust collide in the air, they often exchange a tiny electrical charge. This tiny spark of static electricity can sometimes drive massive natural phenomena, ...

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 ...

Rub a balloon on your hair and the balloon typically picks up a negative electric charge, while your hair goes positive. But a new study shows that the charge an object picks up can depend on its ...

We’re all familiar with static electricity and its many “appearances.” It can be an annoying spark when you walk across a rug; allow you to stick a balloon against a wall after rubbing it across your ...

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 ...

My bedroom windowsill and skirting boards are the dustiest areas of my home, but I found an easy way to keep them dust-free ...