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

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

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

If you’ve ever felt a shock after rubbing your hair with a balloon or shuffling across a carpet, you’ll know that static electricity can be a real pain. But for the scientists who study it, the pain ...

When particles in volcanic ash cloud rub together, some pick up positive charge and others negative – now physicists have ...