Learn what causes static electricity, why it's worse in cold weather, and how to prevent painful shocks.

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Balloon attracting hair with static electricity The first documentation of static electricity dates back to 600 BCE. Even after ...

When winter comes, "Zap!" That unpleasant sensation that runs through your fingertips the moment you touch a doorknob. It's static electricity. It hurts, doesn't it? If you let your guard down ...

Ancient Greeks discovered that when animal fur and amber were rubbed together, the fur could be used to attract feathers, glass dust and other lightweight objects. It wasn’t until 1600 AD, however, ...

Galien Grosjean was a caretaker of tiny glass beads. He bathed them, gently cradled them with tweezers, placed them delicately in his experimental apparatus. He avoided unneeded jostling at all costs: ...

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, ...

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 ...

Ticks can be attracted across air gaps several times larger than themselves by the static electricity that their hosts naturally accumulate, researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered.

You don’t need to touch a tick for it to find you, a new study suggests. The blood-sucking parasites may be able to catapult themselves from vegetation to their hosts thanks to static electricity.

Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimeters or centimeters.

Ancient Greeks discovered that when animal fur and amber were rubbed together, the fur could be used to attract feathers, glass dust and other lightweight objects. It wasn’t until 1600 AD, however, ...