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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
Wave interference: where does the energy go?
Last week was a relatively lousy one for me, but it was made up in part by getting a good question from a student on waves and interference after class. It’s really nice to get a question that indicates a … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics
33 Comments
10 days until The Giant’s Shoulders #22!
This is your monthly reminder that there’s 10 days left until the deadline for The Giant’s Shoulders #22! It will be hosted by The Lay Scientist. Entries can be submitted through blogcarnival.com or directly to the host blog, as usual! … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
5 Comments
ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: Ocean conveyors, UV paleontology, science and “truth”, and scientific misconduct
Ocean Conveyor running AMOC. Life on our planet owes a lot to the global ocean currents, but there is concern that global warming may shut this current down. Is there any indication this is happening yet? Alistair at Deep Type … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Michelson and Margarite
My recent posts on Ada Lovelace Day (here and here) not only drove home the point that there were even more historically important women scientists and mathematicians than I had optimistically imagined, but that the smartest male scientists of their … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Women in science
3 Comments
ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: molding stem cells, lightning, dogs at play, and a heritage of honey
Shaping a stem cell’s future. Most of us are familiar with the idea of stem cells (and the political controversies associated with them): cells which can be chemically manipulated into different types of functionality. Rob Mitchum at ScienceLife describes research … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Some more women in science, and their appreciators
I thought, before this past week, that I appreciated quite well the important but often unacknowledged role that women have played in the history of science and mathematics. It turns out that I’ve hardly scratched the surface of their contributions, … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Women in science
23 Comments
Graham Masterton’s Blind Panic
About a month ago, I picked up the most recent novel by horror author Graham Masterton, Blind Panic (2010): Buying this novel was a no-brainer for me, because the back cover description completely intrigued me: It began without warning. Across … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Women published in the Royal Society, 1890-1930
I’ve been struggling to think of a woman scientist to profile for Ada Lovelace Day! Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was a brilliant woman mathematician and arguably the first computer programmer, designing a program for Charles Babbage’s (never constructed) Analytical Engine. Ada … Continue reading
Posted in General science, History of science, Women in science
12 Comments
Pwned by a historian of science!
I knew this moment would come eventually! As an amateur scholar of the history of science, I’ve dreaded the day that I get my facts screwed up enough to bring commentary from an actual historian. Well, that day has come … Continue reading
Posted in History of science
6 Comments
ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: the Irish-Caribbean, Earth’s early years, wound-healing and nest-building, and large quantum objects
The Irish Diaspora: Why Even Trinidadians Are a Little Irish. On the heels of St. Patrick’s Day, Krystal at Anthropology in Practice tells the fascinating and little-known tale of why there is an Irish influence in the British Caribbean. Earth’s … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Skulls in the Stars 