It’s the basis of some of the best-known classroom demonstrations: a phenomenon that literally makes your hair stand on end. Static electricity — or contact electrification or triboelectricity, to use ...

Static electricity is so commonplace that it can come across as simple. Other teams are investigating how surface area and velocity during impact might govern charge transfer, and how the breaking ...

Sometimes when you touch something metal, you can get a little electric shock, even if it’s not connected to a power source. And it’s all because of static electricity. Static electricity is a build ...

Picture a big, round, fuzzy bumblebee buzzing around a flower garden, collecting nectar and pollen. A bumblebee visits a flower. KQED Deep Look on Giphy As it approaches the next flower, the bee ...

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 ...

The plastic gizmo in Zhong Lin Wang’s hand doesn’t look like tomorrow’s solution to our looming energy crisis. It’s about the size and shape of a small grapefruit, but smooth and translucent. As he ...