Engineering's Daniel Lacks weighs in on static electricity discoveries

The surprisingly baffling science of static electricity

Scientific American: Daniel Lacks, the C. Benson Branch Professor of Chemical Engineering, said recent triboelectric experiments move the field from speculation to scientific proof, showing that surface contaminants can control charge transfer. He highlighted that systematic, controlled studies now provide clear evidence of factors influencing static electricity, marking a major advance in understanding this previously baffling phenomenon.