Who has never felt that unpleasant little shock when shaking a metal handle, taking off a wool sweater, or brushing against someone in the dark? These tiny sparks are due to static electricity, ...

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 ...

Could detecting static electricity be a factor in explaining why treehopper insects have evolved such bizarre body shapes? That is the hypothesis put forward in a new research paper published in ...

A parasitic worm uses static electricity to launch itself onto flying insects, a mechanism uncovered by physicists and ...