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The author of Skulls in the Stars is an associate professor of physics, specializing in optical science, at UNC Charlotte. The blog covers topics in physics and optics, the history of science, classic pulp fantasy and horror fiction, and the surprising intersections between these areas. -
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Monthly Archives: September 2008
The Republican war on intelligence
Back in 2004, I had the pleasure of hearing Hillary Clinton speak at the Optical Society of America Annual Meeting in Rochester, NY. After her prepared remarks, she took questions from the audience. One questioner asked about some Bush administration … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, General science, Politics
4 Comments
The Giant’s Shoulders #3 is up!
The third edition of The Giant’s Shoulders is up at Entertaining Research! It’s a smaller edition than the previous ones, but still has some very nice entries (mine included!). Thanks to Guru for putting it together! The next edition will … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Richard Wright of Pink Floyd dies
The music world has lost one of its greats: Rick Wright, keyboardist and founding member of Pink Floyd, died at 65 after a long battle with cancer. His contributions to the band were often dismissed, especially, it seems, by fellow … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment
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Richard Marsh’s A Metamorphosis
I continue with some reviews of the works of Richard Marsh, in celebration of the release of Valancourt’s edition of The Beetle. This time I discuss a book that is, as yet, only available through Google books, Richard Marsh’s A … Continue reading
Posted in Mystery/thriller
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The LHC shakes things up — the nuts, that is
Since writing about the first official test of the LHC on September 10th, I’ve noticed I’m getting a significant amount of hits. This is a bit strange, since my post was pretty much the least informative post about the LHC, … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?
9 Comments
Happy Birthday to Richard Kiel!
It would be horrible of me to let September 13th pass by and not note the birthday of the most excellent actor Richard Kiel! Kiel turns 69 today. Kiel, standing a daunting 7’2” tall, has made a career out of … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment
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“Interference between different photons never occurs:” Not! (1963)
Note: This post is my contribution to the third edition of The Giant’s Shoulders, a carnival of blog posts on classic science papers. One of the most famous statements concerning quantum mechanics, as it relates to the light particles known … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics, Physics
15 Comments
4 days until The Giant’s Shoulders #3!
This is a reminder that there’s 4 days until The Giant’s Shoulders #3, to be held at Entertaining Research. Entries can be submitted, as always, through blogcarnival.com.
Posted in General science, Science news
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LHC fires up!
From various sources in the science blogotopia, we learn that the LHC has been started for the first time! For those unfamiliar, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is designed to be the world’s largest particle accelerator, which will probe the … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
4 Comments
Busy with my book…
If anyone’s noticed a slowdown in my blog output recently, the reasons are twofold: 1. The beginning of the academic semester, and 2. I’m finally trying to make progress on my textbook. I will probably continue to post at a … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Personal
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