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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. -
Author Archives: skullsinthestars
Weird science facts, March 23 — March 29
Here are the Twitter #weirdscifacts for the past week! 375. Mar 23: What do walruses use their tusks for? Pulling their chubby selves out of the water onto ice, for one. 376. Mar 24: Non-Newtonian fluids — solid or liquid, … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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What did Robert E. Howard think of women?
In reading classic weird fiction of the 1930s an earlier, one must always keep in mind that the authors were a product of their time. Racism and sexism are sadly common in reading older stories, and the depiction of negative … Continue reading
Posted in Robert E. Howard
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My interview on Dr. Kiki’s Science Hour (guest-hosted by ScienceComedian)!
Last night I did an interview on The Twit Netcast Network, on Dr. Kiki’s Science Hour, about a variety of science topics! Brian Malow, aka the Science Comedian, guest-hosted the episode and was the one to invite me on. Here … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Personal
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Weird science facts, March 16 — March 22
I’m still going! Here are the Twitter #weirdscifacts for March 16th to March 22nd. 368. Mar 16: Elephants — coordinating their efforts and cheating at it, too! (Story by @rkrulwich at @npr) 369. Mar 17: Early treatment of Syphilis: cut … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Optics basics: vector fields
In my regular discussions of optics and electromagnetic fields in general, I use a lot of pictures with arrows on them. For instance, my post on Faraday’s law has the curious figure, where the red arrows represent the “electric field” … Continue reading
Posted in Optics basics, Physics
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Weird science facts — a full year of facts edition!!!!!
This past Sunday, I officially reached my goal of doing a full year’s worth of #weirdscifacts on Twitter — 365 days in a row of posting weird science!!!!!!!!! I will probably wind down my facts sometime in the future — … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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The Giant’s Shoulders #33 is up!
Today’s the day to read your monthly compilation of history of science posts — The Giant’s Shoulders #33 is out at The Renaissance Mathematicus! ThonyC was busy, so Sascha the canine philosopher filled in to give us an excellent carnival … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Weird science facts, March 2 — March 8
In less than a week, I’ll have done a #weirdscifacts a day for a full year!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here are the past week’s facts: 354. Mar 02: Physics Nobelist Shockley was troubled, and once attempted suicide with solo game of Russian roulette. … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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6 days until the deadline for The Giant’s Shoulders #33!
This is the monthly reminder that the deadline for The Giant’s Shoulders, the monthly history of science blog carnival, is only six days away! The Giants’ Shoulders #33 will be hosted by Sascha the canine philosopher at The Renaissance Mathematicus. Submissions as … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Cats, cats, cats!
I’m struggling to get a new optics post going for the blog; I’ve got a number of possibilities I’m exploring, but it will likely take a few days to get it going. In the meantime, I realized I haven’t done … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Personal
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Skulls in the Stars 