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The author of Skulls in the Stars is a 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. -
Monthly Archives: June 2008
Lost divers shamelessly rip off ‘Lost’ and ‘Land of the Lost’!
Last Thursday, a group of divers went missing on what was supposed to be a routine tour dive in Indonesia. On Saturday, all five were rescued from the island of Rinca near Komodo Island, having spent two days surviving on … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Science news
1 Comment
“Aether Drag” and Moving Images: A different sort of “twin paradox”
Note: I’ve bumped this post in a probably futile attempt to get it aggregated by Research Blogging. It’s a little challenging to blog about contemporary optics research, as much of the work being done, though interesting, is of an extremely … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics
15 Comments
Name the ‘carnival of the classics’!
I’ve been chatting with Coturnix over at A Blog Around The Clock about preparing a new blog carnival related to classic papers. One of the first questions that came up: what do we name this new carnival? Coturnix suggested that … Continue reading
Posted in General science
10 Comments
The Civic Scientist
I think I love a challenge but in truth I hate failing, and will usually not undertake a task unless I think I have a good shot at excelling at it. That may be the reason why when my friend … Continue reading
Posted in General science
2 Comments
Welcome cairochemist!
Just a quick note: I’ve been trying to convince some of my colleagues for some time to do some guest blogging here. One of them, who will be known as cairochemist, has fallen for my spiel… ahem… *cough* *cough*… has … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
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George Brewer’s The Witch of Ravensworth
A some time back I wrote a blog post about The Animated Skeleton, an early Gothic horror novel written in 1798 and reprinted for the first time by Valancourt Books. Though fascinating and enjoyable, ‘Skeleton is not an easy read, … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
8 Comments
The 2008 “Classic Science Papers” Challenge is done!
The deadline for the “Classic Science Papers” challenge has passed! The collection of entries will be permanently bookmarked here, for future reference. Entries ranged over a wide variety of disciplines: biochemistry, biology, geology, neuroanatomy, medicine, physics, physiology, and psychology. Entries … Continue reading
Posted in General science
7 Comments
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Premature Burial and its references
Of all of the works of Edgar Allan Poe’s, one of my favorites is The Premature Burial (1844). The narrator of the story is a man who suffers from cataleptic attacks which leave him insensate and seemingly lifeless. He develops … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
4 Comments
Skulls in the Stars 