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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
Visiting San Francisco!
This post chronicles two firsts: my first trip to San Francisco and my first iPhone-written post! I’m in town to attend Photonics West and meet with colleagues; today the wife and I were wandering around to see the sights. I’ll … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Travel
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Richard Marsh’s A Spoiler of Men
I have yet to be really disappointed by the works of Richard Marsh (1857-1915)! Over the Christmas holiday, I spent some time reading A Spoiler of Men (1905) , which has recently been reprinted by the always great Valancourt Books, … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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Scienceblogging-related news!
Back from ScienceOnline 2010, I’m currently suffering from a nasty cold and pretty much comatose. Partly from both of these factors, I’ve been remiss in noting a few bits of scienceblogging-related news: The Open Lab 2009 results are out! The … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
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ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: Prehistoric ballistics, prehistoric food delivery, a big boom and chemophobia
Prehistoric ballistics, or Mythbusters meets archaeology. The Mythbusters have been amazing promoters of science, but who knew that they actually do peer-reviewed science? Julien Riel-Salvatore of A Very Remote Period Indeed describes a collaboration between archaeologists and Mythbusters to answer … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Slender loris at the Duke Lemur Center
ScienceOnline 2010 had a variety of “lab tours” to attend on Friday afternoon. With all the options available, I chose to return to the Duke Lemur Center that I visited last year! I wanted to show my wife the lemurs, … Continue reading
Posted in Animals
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Back from ScienceOnline 2010!
Well, I’m back home from ScienceOnline 2010! I only stayed for the first day of the conference this year, but I enjoyed all of the sessions that I attended and collected a lot of food for thought. It was especially … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
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The Giant’s Shoulders #19 is up!
The nineteenth edition of The Giant’s Shoulders is up at The Renaissance Mathematicus! Many thanks to Thony C. for assembling a great edition! The deadline for the next edition is February 15th, and it will be held at The Lay … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Off to ScienceOnline 2010!
After work this evening, the wife and I will head off to ScienceOnline 2010. We’ll probably be arriving around 9:00, too late to make the ‘early bird’ event, but I plan to pop by the hotel bar soon after to … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
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ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: Volcanoes and evolution, fine-grained space, and Earth’s CO2 sensitivity
Nyamulagira Volcano and Human Evolution. Greg Laden of Greg Laden’s Blog describes some of his own published research speculating that humans may have split from chimps on the slopes of volcanoes! It is a fascinating post with great personal anecdotes … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Mythbusters were scooped — by 130 years! (Finger in the barrel)
During my first evening in San Antonio, I sequestered myself in my hotel room to polish up my presentation. Fortunately, there was a Mythbusters marathon on the Discovery Channel at that time, so I was able to keep myself marginally … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, History of science, Physics
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Skulls in the Stars 