When we read "electrostatic discharges", we immediately associate it with danger, threat, or death because electrostatic discharges are a sudden flow of static electricity between inorganic and organic objects that in most cases end up being fatal.

Before continuing and explaining why electrostatic discharges end up being deadly, I will first talk a little about the electrostatic phenomenon, which is nothing more than a physical reaction that causes an electric current to circulate suddenly and momentarily between two objects of different electric potential.

For example, we can experience an electrostatic discharge in our homes when we touch an electrical outlet or some electrical appliance with a high electrical potential, which upon colliding with our own obviously lower electrical potential produces an imbalance between electrons, and thus an eminent electrical discharge that can trigger death by electrocution.

Hence, electrostatic discharges are common in homes or workplaces, mainly in those places where people are usually or manipulating objects with high electrostatic charges, now, even though we know that this type of electrostatic contact can cause death, it is worth mentioning that paradoxically, electrostatic discharges have been associated as life-generating entities.

In this regard, the scientific community infers that the electrostatic charges that impacted the earth, namely lightning, could have originated the first biomolecules (organic molecules), and consequently may be the basis for the generation of life on the planet.

[1] Brack A From the Origin of Life on Earth to Life in the Universe. 2005. Article: Online access

[2] Jortner J Conditions for the emergence of life on the early Earth: summary and reflections. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2006. 29; 361: 1474: 1877 – 1891. Article: Online access