> 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.

Wonder if this effect happens at all with stone.

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!

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

Nope, different article. Try this instead: https://archive.ph/FwVX4

Source publication: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10941-6

Whoops! thanks, guess I should have clicked it to double check thought it look familiar lol