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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
The roots of my lack of respect for organized religion… (updated)
A few weeks back, I made a comment on Pharyngula about the reasons that I finally lost complete respect for organized religion. The reasons seemed odd enough and entertaining enough to merit a post on their own: Legos and Peanuts. … Continue reading
Posted in Religion
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Patrick Swayze Christmas, by MST3K
One more irreverent Christmas video: that of the MST3K bunch singing “A Patrick Swayze Christmas”: YouTube is great, isn’t it?
Posted in Entertainment
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My part in the War on XMas…
As my part in the War on Christmas, I thought I’d link to some irreverent Christmas music. For those fans of Jonathan Coulton, Mike Spiff of Spiffworld finally did a video of Chiron Beta Prime, one of my favorite Christmas … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment
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Christian lepers need MY help??!!
Normally I delete without reading any ‘phishing‘ or 419 scam emails I get, which include the Nigerian banking schemes along with their close relatives the Hong Kong banking scheme, the UK banking scheme, the Amsterdam lottery scheme, the China import/export … Continue reading
Mars flirting with disaster!
CNN is reporting today that astronomers have determined that there’s a one in 75 chance that a big asteroid could hit Mars in January! These may not seem like good odds, but they’re astonishingly high considering the amount of empty … Continue reading
Robert E. Howard (indirectly) on religion
I’ve been kind of busy the past few days, preparing for the holidays (you hear me, Bill O’Reilly? I said ‘holiday’!!!), so I haven’t been able to post much. This seemed like a good time to share one of my … Continue reading
Posted in Fantasy fiction, Robert E. Howard
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A few (small) bits of happy political news
Two little things happened on the political front today that give some faint hope that the country hasn’t degraded completely into a torture-loving big-brother kleptocracy: Senator Chris Dodd managed to push off via filibuster threat the Senate vote to give … Continue reading
Roald Dahl: Master of macabre misdirection… and children’s stories!
Our next horror master is Roald Dahl (1916-1990), Welsh author and screenwriter. Most people probably know Dahl as the author of such famous children’s books as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda. A lot … Continue reading
