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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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Category Archives: Invisibility
So, what is a “temporal cloak”, anyway?
I’ve been saying for a few years that optical science has entered a truly remarkable new era: instead of asking the question, “What are the physical limitations on what light can do?”, we are now asking, “How can we make … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
5 Comments
Isaac Newton… Father of invisibility physics?
My blog has been a good impetus to research a number of interesting scientific topics more deeply than I would otherwise have had the ambition to do. For instance, since the blog’s inception, I’ve been pushing the origins of “invisibility physics” … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Invisibility, Science fiction
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“Visions of invisibility in fiction” in Optics & Photonics News!
I’m very excited — this morning my first popular science article written for a magazine appeared online! ”Visions of invisibility in fiction” appears in the July/August issue of Optics & Photonics News, the news magazine of the Optical Society of … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics, Personal
8 Comments
Invisibility talk in the Critical Wit podcast!
For those who aren’t tired yet of hearing me talk about science, you can now hear me in the second installment of the Critical Wit Podcast, hosted by Chris Lindsay! I pontificate on the topic of invisibility cloaks and the … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
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Post at Scientific American guest blog on invisibility!
For those wondering where my science-related posts have been these days, I have at least a partial answer: I have a guest post on the Scientific American guest blog on, “Invisibility: After several years of research, it’s just gotten weirder”! … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
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Invisibility physics: Kerker’s “invisible bodies”
(This is a continuation of my “history of invisibility physics” series of posts. The earlier posts are: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI) The history of invisibility physics truly began with the concept of … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
17 Comments
Lord Rayleigh’s comments on invisibility (1884)
Found it! I pointed out in my previous invisibility post that R.W. Wood attributes an early discussion of invisibility to Lord Rayleigh in his Encyclopædia Britannica article on optics; however, I couldn’t find the quote after browsing Rayleigh’s articles and … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Invisibility
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The first paper on invisibility? (1902)
When discussing the history of invisibility physics, I typically cite Ehrenfest’s 1910 paper on radiationless motions as the first publication dedicated to the subject. Ehrenfest’s paper, which attempts to explain how electrons could oscillate in a classical atom without radiating, … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
8 Comments
Invisibility physics: “Reflectionless” objects make an appearance
(This is a continuation of my “history of invisibility physics” series of posts. The earlier posts are: Part I, Part II, Part III.) Up through the late 1940s, it seems that the only type of invisibility that authors were considering … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility
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Invisibility physics: Hiding and seeking, all at once!
When the first papers on the idea of a “cloaking” device came out in 2006, lots of people were immediately worried that the CIA would soon be peering right over their shoulder from the shelter of invisibility cloaks. Many scientists, … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
2 Comments
