* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Saturday, September 6, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Pendulum Announce Homecoming 2026 Australian Tour – yahoo.com

    Pendulum Announces Thrilling Homecoming Tour Across Australia in 2026

    ITV Studios Launches New Entertainment Label – Global Bulletin – IMDb

    ITV Studios Unveils Exciting New Entertainment Label

    TS Entertainment bringing Malibu Jack’s to former Owensboro mall – Lane Report

    TS Entertainment Launches Malibu Jack’s at Former Owensboro Mall Location

    Jenny Han Dropped a Major ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Egg Revealing [SPOILER] – yahoo.com

    Jenny Han Just Unveiled a Huge ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Egg That Changes Everything [SPOILER]

    Liam Payne’s Cousin Ross Harris Honors Late Singer With Emotional Song ‘Bones’ – yahoo.com

    Liam Payne’s Cousin Ross Harris Honors Late Singer with Emotional New Song ‘Bones

    Country music star apologizes after drunken show ends with cops taking him down: ‘I’m not OK’ – PennLive.com

    Country Music Star Apologizes After Drunken Show Ends in Police Intervention: ‘I’m Not OK

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Coherent Joins LLNL’s STARFIRE Diode Technology Working Group to Advance Inertial Fusion Energy – GlobeNewswire

    Coherent Partners with LLNL’s STARFIRE Team to Drive Breakthroughs in Inertial Fusion Energy

    Gene Associated With Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers Identified – Technology Networks

    Breakthrough Discovery Uncovers Gene Behind Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers

    Monkey Island LNG Picks ConocoPhillips’ Liquefaction Technology – Hart Energy

    Monkey Island LNG Selects ConocoPhillips’ Advanced Liquefaction Technology for Next-Gen Energy Solutions

    Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (CRDO) Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates – Yahoo Finance

    Credo Technology Group Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Expectations

    The Economist is hiring a science and technology correspondent – The Economist

    Exciting Opportunity: Become Our Next Science and Technology Correspondent!

    Blockchain lender Figure Technology seeks to raise up to $526M in IPO (FIGR:Pending) – Seeking Alpha

    Blockchain Lender Figure Technology Sets Sights on $526M in Thrilling IPO Launch

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Pendulum Announce Homecoming 2026 Australian Tour – yahoo.com

    Pendulum Announces Thrilling Homecoming Tour Across Australia in 2026

    ITV Studios Launches New Entertainment Label – Global Bulletin – IMDb

    ITV Studios Unveils Exciting New Entertainment Label

    TS Entertainment bringing Malibu Jack’s to former Owensboro mall – Lane Report

    TS Entertainment Launches Malibu Jack’s at Former Owensboro Mall Location

    Jenny Han Dropped a Major ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Egg Revealing [SPOILER] – yahoo.com

    Jenny Han Just Unveiled a Huge ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Egg That Changes Everything [SPOILER]

    Liam Payne’s Cousin Ross Harris Honors Late Singer With Emotional Song ‘Bones’ – yahoo.com

    Liam Payne’s Cousin Ross Harris Honors Late Singer with Emotional New Song ‘Bones

    Country music star apologizes after drunken show ends with cops taking him down: ‘I’m not OK’ – PennLive.com

    Country Music Star Apologizes After Drunken Show Ends in Police Intervention: ‘I’m Not OK

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Coherent Joins LLNL’s STARFIRE Diode Technology Working Group to Advance Inertial Fusion Energy – GlobeNewswire

    Coherent Partners with LLNL’s STARFIRE Team to Drive Breakthroughs in Inertial Fusion Energy

    Gene Associated With Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers Identified – Technology Networks

    Breakthrough Discovery Uncovers Gene Behind Deadly Heart Disease in Golden Retrievers

    Monkey Island LNG Picks ConocoPhillips’ Liquefaction Technology – Hart Energy

    Monkey Island LNG Selects ConocoPhillips’ Advanced Liquefaction Technology for Next-Gen Energy Solutions

    Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (CRDO) Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates – Yahoo Finance

    Credo Technology Group Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Expectations

    The Economist is hiring a science and technology correspondent – The Economist

    Exciting Opportunity: Become Our Next Science and Technology Correspondent!

    Blockchain lender Figure Technology seeks to raise up to $526M in IPO (FIGR:Pending) – Seeking Alpha

    Blockchain Lender Figure Technology Sets Sights on $526M in Thrilling IPO Launch

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Scientists discover static electricity attracts ticks to hosts

July 11, 2023
in Science
Scientists discover static electricity attracts ticks to hosts
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Researchers at the University of Bristol have found that ticks may be drawn across air gaps several times bigger than themselves by the naturally occurring static charge on their hosts. Due to the fact that ticks cannot jump, this is the only way they would be able to establish touch with hosts other than their tiny legs, which enhances their likelihood of finding hosts to parasitize. 

The findings reported in Current Biology represent the first instance in which static electricity has been linked to one animal’s attachment to another.

Many dreadful infections, like Lyme disease, are carried by ticks and can lead to human and animal demise. Therefore, attempting to lessen ticks’ capacity to adhere to humans and the animals they depend on has significant societal and economic benefits.

According to lead author Sam England of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, many species, including humans, can build up rather considerable electrostatic charges.

The researcher said, “We see this when we get a static shock after bouncing on a trampoline or when rubbing a balloon on our hair, for example. But this electrostatic charging also happens to animals in nature when they rub against objects in their environment like grass, sand, or other animals.”

These charges are surprisingly high and can be equivalent to hundreds if not thousands of volts – more than you get out of your plug sockets at home! Importantly, static charges exert forces on other static charges, either attractive or repulsive, depending on whether they are positive or negative.

The researchers asked whether the static charges that mammals, birds, and reptiles naturally build-up may be so great that parasitic ticks could be attracted to these creatures electrostatically and lifted through the air, increasing their ability to find hosts to feed on.

The team’s initial experimentation involved introducing statically charged materials, such as rabbit hair, close to ticks to see if they would draw ticks to them. They saw how easily these charged surfaces could drag ticks over air gaps of several millimeters or centimeters, which is comparable to a person jumping up several flights of stairs. 

The strength of the electric field created between an electrically charged animal and the grass that ticks like to sit in as they wait for hosts to pass by was then predicted mathematically using earlier measurements of the usual charge carried by animals.

He said, “Then, we placed ticks underneath an electrode, with an air gap in between, and increased the charge on the electrode until the ticks were attracted onto the electrode. By doing this, we determined the minimum electric field strength at which the ticks could be attracted.” 

This minimum electric field was within the order of magnitude predicted by the mathematical calculations of the electric field between a charged animal and grass. Therefore it is likely that ticks in nature are attracted to their hosts by static electricity.

Many other parasitic species, like mites, fleas, or lice that wish to make contact with and adhere to their hosts, also experience this phenomenon, making it possible that it serves as a universal mechanism for animal contact and attachment. The finding makes it possible to create new technologies, including anti-static sprays, to reduce tick attacks in people, animals, and farm animals.

The ability of ticks to be drawn across air gaps several times their size by the static electricity that other animals naturally accumulate makes it simpler for ticks to locate and connect to the animals they want to latch onto and feed from.

The scientists will now look at whether ticks can detect the incoming electrical charge of their potential hosts.

Journal Reference:

Katie Lihou, Sam J. England, et al. Static electricity passively attracts ticks onto hosts. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.021

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Tech Explorist – https://www.techexplorist.com/scientists-discover-static-electricity-attracts-ticks-hosts/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=scientists-discover-static-electricity-attracts-ticks-hosts

Tags: discoverscienceScientists
Previous Post

MIT AI system help biologists build ML models

Next Post

Astronomers have found an exoplanet that can match Venus’ shininess

Ecology issues $738K penalty against downtown Walla Walla Chevron owner – Union-Bulletin

Ecology issues $738K penalty against downtown Walla Walla Chevron owner – Union-Bulletin

September 6, 2025
What the science says about acetaminophen, pregnant mothers and autism – NBC News

What the science says about acetaminophen, pregnant mothers and autism – NBC News

September 6, 2025
RFK Jr accused of ‘reckless disregard for science and the truth’ in Senate hearing – The Guardian

RFK Jr. Faces Fierce Backlash for ‘Reckless Disregard for Science and Truth’ in Heated Senate Hearing

September 6, 2025
Start The Go-Go Years Today: Ignite Your Early Retirement Lifestyle – Forbes

Start The Go-Go Years Today: Ignite Your Early Retirement Lifestyle – Forbes

September 6, 2025
When Sports Teach More Than Skills – American Enterprise Institute

When Sports Teach More Than Skills – American Enterprise Institute

September 6, 2025
Abby Dow and England near record territory as Australia search for upset – The Guardian

Abby Dow and England Close in on Record as Australia Hunts for an Upset

September 6, 2025
America is getting the economy we voted for – Noah Smith | Substack

America Is Finally Experiencing the Economy We Created

September 6, 2025
Pendulum Announce Homecoming 2026 Australian Tour – yahoo.com

Pendulum Announces Thrilling Homecoming Tour Across Australia in 2026

September 6, 2025
HHS responds to report about autism and acetaminophen : Shots – Health News – NPR

HHS Addresses New Findings on Autism and Acetaminophen Use

September 6, 2025
September 2, 2025: Trump administration news – CNN

September 2, 2025: Trump administration news – CNN

September 6, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (810)
  • Economy (828)
  • Entertainment (21,705)
  • General (16,889)
  • Health (9,869)
  • Lifestyle (841)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (830)
  • Politics (835)
  • Science (16,039)
  • Sports (21,327)
  • Technology (15,808)
  • World (809)

Recent News

Ecology issues $738K penalty against downtown Walla Walla Chevron owner – Union-Bulletin

Ecology issues $738K penalty against downtown Walla Walla Chevron owner – Union-Bulletin

September 6, 2025
What the science says about acetaminophen, pregnant mothers and autism – NBC News

What the science says about acetaminophen, pregnant mothers and autism – NBC News

September 6, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version