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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
Editor’s selections: Galactic light switches, deadly rhododendrons, and railways of light
Quasar light switches. You don’t want light switches like this at home! Emma at we are all in the gutter talks about recent research concerning quasars and active galactic nuclei — after powering down, they can sometimes start back up … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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9 days until The Giant’s Shoulders #15!
There’s 9 days left until the deadline for The Giant’s Shoulders #15! It will be hosted at Entertaining Research, and entries can be submitted through blogcarnival.com or directly to the host blog, as usual!
Posted in General science, Science news
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Computed tomography as art
A friend (h/t David) sent this to me a bit over a week ago, and now that I’m less distracted by work, I thought I’d pass it along! On August 23rd, The Daily Mail reported on a new science-based art … Continue reading
Posted in Physics
2 Comments
DougJ of Balloon Juice won the internets yesterday!
I don’t usually like making short posts without adding much substance, but I couldn’t let this one go by. DougJ of Balloon Juice wrote yesterday about people’s desire to see Dick Cheney actually run for President in 2012. His choice … Continue reading
Claimed! by Francis Stevens
Not too long ago, I took a first look at the weird short fiction of Francis Stevens (1883-1948), a groundbreaking author who has been credited with helping create the genre of “dark fantasy“. Though Stevens was a somewhat uneven writer … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
4 Comments
Off it goes…
Well, I just dropped my tenure package off to the RPT committee. Now we play the waiting game… …Ah, the waiting game sucks — let’s play “Hungry Hungry Hippos”!
Posted in Personal
3 Comments
On passing adult bronze ‘moves in the field’
Whew! One more stressful deadline is passed, and successfully! On Sunday, I passed my adult bronze ‘moves in the field’ figure skating test! Of course, most readers probably have no idea what that means. The USFSA (U.S. Figure Skating Association) … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Sports
6 Comments
ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: Adaptive optics, adaptive mimicry, and adaptive freeloading
Binocular adaptive optics simulator: the future of vision assessment now! (or the end of phoropters?) At Optics Confidential, Pablo Artal discusses his own research on adaptive optics, which could in the end finally change the 100-year old use of the … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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The other meaning of “dimension” and its use in physics
Thanks to the advent of relativity theory, and string theory in recent decades, there’s a lot of talk in physics about space having extra, unseen dimensions — up to 11 spacetime dimensions in one version of string theory! These days, … Continue reading
Posted in Physics
14 Comments
Happy birthday to G.W. Bailey!
I was watching The Closer the other night, and I was observing again how much I like the character of Lt. Provenza, and the actor G.W. Bailey who plays him. In a nice bit of synchronicity, it turns out that … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment
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Skulls in the Stars 