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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
Making molecular motors (video)
My friend and colleague, Dr. Charles Sykes of Tufts University, recently sent me a link to an interesting video his research group has put together! Dr. Sykes’ group has been studying the behavior of complex molecules on surfaces at low … Continue reading
Posted in General science
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ResearchBlogging editor's selections: age of the Earth, hacking quantum cryptography, American camels and free kick physics
“Dr. SkySkull” selects several notable posts each week from a miscellany of ResearchBlogging.org categories. He blogs at Skulls in the Stars. When a few million years don’t mean much… Recent investigations have revised scientific estimates of the age of the … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Physical Review Letters gives a WARNING!!! (1958)
Though scientific knowledge has increased by leaps and bounds throughout the course of human history, human nature itself hasn’t changed very much! Looking through the old scientific journals, one can find arguments and conflicts that are still in some form … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
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Conservation mode/growing pains
What Christina said: We’re putting scientopia basically in to conservation mode to conserve resources until we get hosting issues squared away. So we’ll have no commenting on new posts for a bit. This isn’t a sinister plot to stifle dissenting … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?
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Weird science facts, May 23-June 05
The Twitter #weirdscifacts from May 23 – June 05 are below the fold!
Posted in Weirdscifacts, [PhysicalScience]
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Kitty fostering: Brewster and Breyer!
I’ll be doing more physics blogging in the near future — I promise! Work is keeping me quite busy at the moment and I haven’t had much spare time or energy to investigate topics in depth. Hopefully that will change … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Personal, [Etc]
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ResearchBlogging editor's selections: measuring gravity, measuring magnetism, antiseptic spices and Goya's bullfighting
“Dr. SkySkull” selects several notable posts each week from a miscellany of ResearchBlogging.org categories. He blogs at Skulls in the Stars. Measuring Gravity: Ain’t Nothin’ but a G Thing. Gravity is one of the fundamental forces of nature, but also … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news, [Etc]
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My favorite weird fiction of the past 3 years
Happy (belated) blogiversary to me! August 14th was the 3rd year anniversary of this blog, a milestone that I missed yet again in the hubbub of daily life. Nevertheless, an anniversary is a good time for reflection, and one thing … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Weird fiction, [Etc]
12 Comments
Weird science facts, May 9-May 22
The Twitter #weirdscifacts from May 9 – May 22 are below the fold!
Posted in Weirdscifacts, [PhysicalScience]
2 Comments
Streets of the optical scientists!
This post is a repost of some proto-blogging I did on my department web page when I was a post-doc in Amsterdam. The web page is gone, now, so I thought I’d revise the essay significantly for the blog here. … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Travel, [PhysicalScience]
21 Comments
Skulls in the Stars 