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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. -
Yearly Archives: 2011
“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
Weird science facts, June 22 — June 28
Things have been quiet on the blog this past week — I’ve been traveling and planning a couple of big, tricky posts! In the meantime, here are the Twitter #weirdscifacts for the past week. 466. June 22: A fungus named … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Weird science facts, June 15 — June 21
Here, as always, are the Twitter #weirdscifacts for the past week! 459. June 15: The horrific 1983 Byford Dolphin decompression accident. Warning: the text description alone is grisly and awful. When a pressurized chamber is opened suddenly, terrible things happen. … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
2 Comments
The Giant’s Shoulders #36 is out: The ABC’s of the history of science!
The 36th edition of The Giant’s Shoulders is up at The Dispersal of Darwin! For this 3rd anniversary of the carnival, Darwin’s Bulldog has assembled a nice collection categorized by topic and by letter! Go check it out — lots of … Continue reading
Posted in General science
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Weird science facts, June 8 — June 14
Here are the week’s Twitter #weirdscifacts! 452. June 08: The cookiecutter shark — it gouges round plugs from its prey like, well, a cookiecutter! 453. June 09: Cotard’s syndrome: strangely, some folks believed they were zombies even b4 “Night of … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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DIEHL research grant services blog!
Just a short note today — I’ve been meaning to draw people’s attention to a recent blog started by my friend and colleague Damon Diehl, who has started a business providing grant-writing assistance. As a researcher in optical science for … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Optics, Personal
2 Comments
H.G. Wells’ The World Set Free (1914)
Mention the name “H.G. Wells” to anyone, and they’ll almost certainly be able to name a few of his books. Most of us know The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The … Continue reading
Posted in Science fiction
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Weird science facts, June 1 — June 7
Once again, the Twitter #weirdscifacts for the previous week! 445. June 01: “17th c. Archimedes”, Étienne-Gaspard Robert, suggested using mirrors to burn ships in 1796 war of France vs. Britain! I’ve written before about the Archimedes “death ray”, and numerous … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
4 Comments
A David Brooks meme update!
A couple of weeks ago, I described my participation in a very silly internet meme about conservative pundit David Brooks. In short: Joshua Green, senior editor at The Atlantic, saw the following picture of excited telephoning Brooks and thought it was worth … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Personal
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13 days until the deadline for The Giant’s Shoulders #36!
This is the regular monthly reminder that there’s only 13 days left until the deadline for the 36th edition of The Giant’s Shoulders, the history of science blog carnival! If you’ve got a history of science post you’ve been thinking … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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