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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
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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ResearchBlogging editor’s selections: Sleepwalking, dark energy — and urine!
Did sleepwalking once serve as an adaptive function? For most people, sleepwalking seems like an annoying — if not downright dangerous — disorder. William at The Quantum Lobe Chronicles explores whether or not this behavior might have served an important … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
3 Comments
Why I left experimental particle physics – a meandering story
Some time ago, I promised that I would tell the story of my transition from experimental particle physics to theoretical optics. With a lot of busy stuff going on at work and my research blogging efforts mired in some rather … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Personal, Physics
19 Comments
Roger Ebert on ‘death panels’ and the power of a phrase
If you don’t read Roger Ebert’s blog, you probably should. In recent years (and probably before that, but before blogs) he’s been writing some of the most thoughtful posts I’ve seen on a range of topics, from politics to science … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Politics
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Skulls in the Stars 