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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
Robert R. McCammon’s Boy’s Life
I read much of Robert R. McCammon’s work when I was younger, but somehow I managed to read only his ‘lesser’ works, such as Stinger (1988), Wolf’s Hour (1989), and The Night Boat (1980), and completely missed the books widely … Continue reading
Another personal blogging milestone…
My friend Personal Demon has reminded me (and belatedly congratulated me) on my one-year blogging anniversary, which I began writing on August 14th, 2007. I had completely forgotten the date. Thanks to everyone who has been reading my posts so … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
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Fossil Hunt: FAIL!!!
Well, I’m back from Chicago, and my fossil hunting expedition! My abilities to find fossils on this trip can be summarized by one word: FAIL!!! This was a field trip sponsored by the Field Museum of Chicago, a place I … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Travel
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A blogging hiatus for the weekend
I just thought I’d mention that I probably won’t be posting for a few days: I’m heading to the Chicago area to go on a fossil hunt with my Dad! On top of that, as soon as I get back … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
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New ‘cloaking’ results? Not really, but interesting anyway
About a week ago, I reported on another ‘teaser’ in the media about ‘optical cloaks’, hypothetical devices which would in principle make objects contained in their core completely invisible. Such devices have gotten a lot of attention, both scientifically and … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics, Physics
8 Comments
Tim Lebbon’s Mesmer
Tim Lebbon relative newcomer as a horror fiction author. I’ve discussed a couple of his later novels in a previous post, and I finally got around to reading his first: Mesmer (1997). As Lebbon himself notes in the introduction to … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Bill Murray makes a skydive!
(h/t my Mom) For the opening of the 50th Chicago Air & Water show on Friday, actor Bill Murray decided to take the plunge and make a tandem skydive! The raw footage of his skydive can be seen at the … Continue reading
The Giant’s Shoulders #2 is up!
The second edition of The Giant’s Shoulders is up at The Lay Scientist! I’m delighted (and, quite frankly, a little relieved) to see that there are an excellent number of entries, and they’re… well, excellent! Thanks to Martin for putting … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
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The cloaking craze: A look at the original papers
As I noted a couple of days ago, apparently there has been another significant experimental breakthrough in the development of dielectric cloaking devices. Researchers at UC Berkeley were responsible, though it is a little unclear what exactly the breakthrough is. … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics, Physics
15 Comments
Some long overdue cat photos…
I haven’t done any catblogging for a while, which is a shame ’cause I’ve got lots of cute cat photos. Moving into a new house provides lots of opportunities for unexpected cat cuteness. Also, we received a very nice gift … Continue reading
