Author Archives: skullsinthestars

Benjamin Franklin shocks the world! (1752)

Posted on October 15, 2010 by skullsinthestars

Back in 1752, Benjamin Franklin performed an epic — and incredibly dangerous — experiment. In order to show that lightning is a form of electricity, he flew a kite in a thunderstorm with a key attached. The key drew off … Continue reading →

Posted in History of science, Physics | 18 Comments

Weird science facts, August 15-August 28

Posted on October 13, 2010 by skullsinthestars

It’s that time of week again: the Twitter #weirdscifacts for August 15 to August 28 are below the fold!

Posted in Weirdscifacts | 2 Comments

ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: the Nobel for graphene, the IgNobel for Peter, and science vs. the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Posted on October 11, 2010 by skullsinthestars

“Dr. SkySkull” selects several notable posts each week from a miscellany of ResearchBlogging.org categories. He blogs at Skulls in the Stars. Great, the physics Nobel prize for graphene! Now don’t overhype it… First up, Joerg Haber at All That Matters … Continue reading →

Posted in General science, Science news | Leave a comment

Twisting light into a Möbius strip

Posted on October 10, 2010 by skullsinthestars

Some months ago, I wrote a post introducing the subfield of optics known as singular optics. Singular optics is concerned with the behavior of wavefields in the neighborhood of regions where the intensity of the wave is zero, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Optics | 2 Comments

The Kathleen Folden memorial blog post

Posted on October 7, 2010 by skullsinthestars

There’s been a bit of commotion going on in the town of Loveland, Colorado lately: an art exhibition at the Loveland Museum/Gallery included a controversial art piece titled, “The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals,” by artist and Stanford Professor Enrique … Continue reading →

Posted in ... the Hell?, Religion | 22 Comments

Weird science facts, August 1-August 14

Posted on October 6, 2010 by skullsinthestars

It’s that time of week again: the Twitter #weirdscifacts for August 1 to August 14 are below the fold! As time passes, it’s been getting harder to find new facts, so I’ve been increasingly relying on the posts and twitter … Continue reading →

Posted in Weirdscifacts | 1 Comment

Returning from Scientopia…

Posted on October 6, 2010 by skullsinthestars

So I’ve finally come to making a decision that I’ve been agonizing over for the past few weeks: I’ve decided to leave Scientopia and return to my WordPress blog here at skullsinthestars.com. Suffice to say that this isn’t due to any … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

Kitty fostering: Mango and Mandarin!

Posted on October 4, 2010 by skullsinthestars

We’ve had a new pair of foster kitties in our house for over a week, but I haven’t been able to get pictures of them because they’ve been hiding under the bed! On Sunday, Terry of F.U.R.R. (whose rescue kitties … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Personal | 3 Comments

ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: cells of ice, heavy metal flowers, white dwarf v. neutron star, and the Ig Nobels!

Posted on October 4, 2010 by skullsinthestars

“Dr. SkySkull” selects several notable posts each week from a miscellany of ResearchBlogging.org categories. He blogs at Skulls in the Stars. Was Ice the Original “Cell” in Early Earth? Though scientists have a reasonably good grasp on the evolution of … Continue reading →