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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
Freaks & geeks: optical freak waves in the laboratory
One of the most fruitful and intriguing avenues for developing novel scientific research is through cross-pollination with other fields of study. This is one of the reasons I’m proud of my excessively liberal arts-focused education, as well as one of … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics
7 Comments
ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: International romance, sluggish T-rex, double rainbows and World Cup excuses
It was, perhaps not surprisingly, a relatively quiet week in research blogging, but there were still lots of great posts! Men, English, and international romance. We begin this week with a post about international relationships, specifically of Japanese folks with … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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A. Merritt’s The Ship of Ishtar
(I’ve been working on a particularly difficult science post for a week now, and the end is still a ways off. In the meantime, I thought I’d catch up a little on my weird fiction posts.) Author A. Merritt (1884-1943) … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Robert E. Howard, Weird fiction
3 Comments
7 days until The Giant’s Shoulders #25!
In spite of all the craziness in the blogosphere right now (or perhaps because of it), this seemed like a good time to remind people that there are 7 days left until the deadline for The Giant’s Shoulders #25, to … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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The sciencebloggosphere is a changing! (updated)
(Updated July 22, 2010 — been hard to keep up with all the changes! Let me know if I have left anyone out.) Update: The strike is over! SEED seems to have agreed to the changes requested. BIG Update: PZ … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?
41 Comments
Is there anybody… out there?
Over the past week, a lot of blogs have revived a venerable scienceblog tradition: inviting those who “lurk” on the blog (read without posting) to de-lurk and say “hi”! I’ve never tried to do that, but it seemed like a … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
49 Comments
ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: Eclipse in the Odyssey, photons still bosons, and soccer GPS
Eclipse in The Odyssey: Science Meets Mythology. It has been long suspected that one passage in Homer’s Odyssey describes an actual solar eclipse, but has been mostly speculation. A recent investigation, described by agoldstein at Beyond the Bench, provides tantalizing … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Hummingbirds are back!
The hummingbirds are back around, and drinking from our window-based feeder! I managed to get a really clear shot of one of them: The image is so clear, in fact, that if you zoom in on the full, hi-res version, … Continue reading
Posted in Animals
2 Comments
Richard Marsh’s The Goddess: A Demon (Valancourt edition)
With the release of the Valancourt edition of Richard Marsh’s The Goddess: A Demon, I thought I’d repost my earlier review of the book, with some modifications specific to this edition. I’ve read a lot of the books of Richard … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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Invisibility physics: Kerker’s “invisible bodies”
(This is a continuation of my “history of invisibility physics” series of posts. The earlier posts are: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI) The history of invisibility physics truly began with the concept of … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
17 Comments
Skulls in the Stars 