sci || tech || history on Instagram: "A Van de Graaff generator produces extremely high-voltage static electricity by building up electric charge on a smooth metal dome. When a person touches the dome, the charge spreads evenly across the surface of the body. Each strand of hair gains the same type of electric charge, and because like charges repel, the hairs push away from one another and rise upward. The effect is strongest on long, dry hair because dry air slows the loss of charge, allowing t