Electrostatic motors are now common in MEMS applications, but researchers at the University of Wisconsin and spinoff C-Motive Technologies have brought macroscale electrostatic motors back. [via ...

Static electricity often just seems like an everyday annoyance when a wool sweater crackles as you pull it off, or when a doorknob delivers an unexpected zap. Regardless, the phenomenon is much more ...

Droplet manipulation has important applications in areas such as heat management, water harvesting, and chemical reactions. A research team from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) developed a ...

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character, Vol. 82, No. 556 (Jul. 26, 1909), pp. 409-421 (13 pages) ...

Scientific American is the authority on science and technology for a general audience, with coverage that explains how research changes our understanding of the world and shapes our lives. First ...

Static electricity can be defined as a stationary charge that builds up on the surface of a material. The interaction between stationary charges, known as electrostatics, leads to two key problems: ...

People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and ...

A parasitic worm uses static electricity to launch itself onto flying insects, a mechanism uncovered by physicists and biologists at Emory and Berkeley. By generating opposite charges, the worm and ...