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They boldly went and found an exciting new planet (shame they called it CoRoT...
The planet, named the distinctly unpoetic CoRoT-Exo-4b, lies within the Unicorn constellation about 3,000 light years from our solar system.Astronomers, who announced the discovery at a conference at the University of St Andrews yesterday, say it is
Down-to-earth science of gazing at the stars
When they hear I am an astronomer, people invariably ask what exactly it is that I do. In the back of their minds they have a picture of somebody standing in the dark on a cold winter's night at Sutherland, eye glued to a telescope, gazing at some
CELL BIOLOGY: Moving Through a Crowd
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APPLIED PHYSICS: Unscintillating Conversation
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CHEMISTRY: Blue, Yellow, and Gold
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Jupiter-sized planet found orbiting sun-like star
BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Scientists have discovered a new Jupiter-sized planet orbiting around a distant sun-like star. This planet takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found. The planet, called
Jupiter-sized planet found orbiting sun-like star
Scientists have discovered a new Jupiter-sized planet orbiting around a distant sun-like star. This planet takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found. The planet, called CoRoT-Exo-4b, was discovered by
Slower switching for quantum coherence
(Nanowerk News) Over the past decade scientists have made rapid progress towards building a quantum computer, but many obstacles still remain. One important requirement is that researchers must achieve extremely accurate control of the electrical
NanoART K12 program promotes the art-science-technology intersection
(Nanowerk News) Students bellow the age of 18 are encouraged to participate to the NanoArt K12 program launched by NanoArt21 in collaboration with The Nanotechnology Group. The purpose of this worldwide program is to support the education of the new
Two-Dimensional Combinatorial Screening Identifies Specific Aminoglycoside'RN...
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Oxidative Quenching and Degradation of Polymer-Encapsulated Quantum Dots: New...
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Gene Directs Traffic In DNA Repair
A gene called ATM prevents chromosomes from being mixed up by acting as a traffic cop during DNA repair, U.S. scientists reported. The ATM gene influences the short time frame for broken DNA to reassemble while directing the right pieces of DNA to hook
Separating Chemical Shift and Quadrupolar Anisotropies via Multiple-Quantum N...
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Huge Amount Of Fossil Fuels In Arctic: 90 Billion Barrels Of Oil And 1,670 Tr...
- The area north of the Arctic Circle has an estimated 90 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, 1,670 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of technically recoverable natural gas

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More About Static Electricity

In electrostatics conditions of charge need not be 'static' and unchanging. Instead 'static' implies that the dynamic portion is being ignored, and we analyze frozen snapshots of the situation. In electrostatics we study e-fields, voltage, and charge but ignore any currents and magnetism which may also be present. Because of its relationship and interaction with magnetism, the two fields are often combined as electromagnetism.

The electrostatic approximation
The validity of the electrostatic approximation rests on the assumption that the electric field is irrotational: From Faraday's law, this assumption implies the absence or near-absence of time-varying magnetic fields:

In other words, electrostatics does not require the absence of magnetic fields or electric currents. Rather, if magnetic fields or electric currents do exist, they must not change with time, or in the worst-case, they must change with time only very slowly.

Electrostatic potential
Because the electric field is irrotational, it is possible to express the electric field as the gradient of a scalar function, called the electrostatic potential (also known as the voltage). Thus, the electrostatic potential Φ is related to the electric field E by the equation:

Charge separation by contact
The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will exhibit attractive or repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance, which leads to static electricity, can be generated by touching two differing surfaces together and then separating them due to the phenomena of contact electrification and the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two non-conductive objects generates a great amount of static electricity. This is not just the result of friction; two non-conductive surfaces can become charged by just being placed one on top of the other. Since most surfaces have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve charging through contact than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together increases amount of adhesive contact between the two surfaces. Usually insulators, i.e., substances that do not conduct electricity, are good at both generating, and holding, a surface charge. Some examples of these substances are rubber, plastic, glass, and pith. Conductive objects only rarely generate charge imbalance except, for example, when a metal surface is impacted by solid or liquid nonconductors. The charge that is transferred during contact electrification is stored on the surface of each object. Static electric generators, devices which produce very high voltage at very low current (such as the Van de Graaf generator or Wimshurst machine) and used for classroom physics demonstrations, rely on this effect. Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system.

Triboelectric series
The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification in which certain materials become electrically charged when coming into contact with another, different, material, and are then separated. The polarity and strength of the charges produced differ according to the materials, surface roughness, temperature, strain, and other properties. It is therefore not very predictable, and only broad generalizations can be made. Amber, for example, can acquire an electric charge by friction with a material like wool. This property, first recorded by Thales of Miletus, suggested the word "electricity", from the Greek word for amber, ēlektron. Other examples of materials that can acquire a significant charge when rubbed together include glass rubbed with silk, and hard rubber rubbed with fur.

Electrostatic generators
The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will exhibit attractive or repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance, which leads to static electricity, can be generated by touching two differing surfaces together and then separating them due to the phenomena of contact electrification and the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two non-conductive objects generates a great amount of static electricity. This is not just the result of friction; two non-conductive surfaces can become charged by just being placed one on top of the other. Since most surfaces have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve charging through contact than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together increases amount of adhesive contact between the two surfaces. Usually insulators, e.g., substances that do not conduct electricity, are good at both generating, and holding, a surface charge. Some examples of these substances are rubber, plastic, glass, and pith. Conductive objects only rarely generate charge imbalance except, for example, when a metal surface is impacted by solid or liquid nonconductors. The charge that is transferred during contact electrification is stored on the surface of each object. Static electric generators, devices which produce very high voltage at very low current and used for classroom physics demonstrations, rely on this effect.

Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system.

Charge neutralisation
Natural electrostatic phenomena are most familiar as an occasional annoyance in seasons of low humidity, but can be destructive and harmful in some situations (e.g. electronics manufacturing.) When working in direct contact with integrated circuit electronics (especially delicate MOSFETs), or in the presence of flammable gas, care must be taken to avoid accumulating and discharging a static charge.

'Static' electricity
Static can be a serious nuisance in the processing of analog recording media, because it can attract dust to sensitive materials. In the case of photography, dust accumulating on lenses and photographic plates degrades the resulting picture. Dust also permanently damages vinyl records because it can be embedded into the grooves as the stylus passes over. In both cases, several approaches exist to combat such dust deposition. Some brushes, particularly those with carbon fiber bristles, are advertised as possessing anti-static properties. Also available are handheld static guns which shoot streams of ions to discharge static on records and lenses. Static electricity is a class of phenomena involving objects with a net charge; typically referring to charged objects with voltages of sufficient magnitude to produce visible attraction, repulsion, and sparks.

Natural electrostatic phenomena are most familiar as an occasional annoyance in seasons of low humidity, but can be destructive and harmful in some situations (e.g. electronics manufacturing.) When working in direct contact with integrated circuit electronics (especially delicate MOSFETs), or in the presence of flammable gas, care must be taken to avoid accumulating and discharging a static charge (see electrostatic discharge).

Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system.

Static electricity is an important element in the biological process of pollination by bees, since the charge on a bee's body helps to hold pollens to it.