goda90 1 hour ago

> People have wanted to collect rain to create electricity, but that hasn’t worked on a large scale

It might be a useful effect for small electronics in damp environments where solar isn't a great option. Caves, rainforests, showers.

hinkley 1 hour ago

Wonder if this effect happens at all with stone.

khelavastr 2 hours ago

protonated rain aka acid rain

phendrenad2 1 hour ago

So if I pour water onto a huge dome of metal, it might build up enough of a negative static charge to jump a spark gap? New science exhibit idea!

  • pfdietz 1 hour ago

    Water-driven electrostatic generators are really easy to build. The key is to have droplets separate at a point where there's an electric field, which causes the detaching droplet to carry a charge. Properly arranged this can cause an exponential increase in charge with time.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin_water_dropper