-
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
Breathing a huge, sad, sigh of relief
One of the most useful and moving sources of information for understanding the impact of the Iraq war on the civilian population has been Baghdad Burning, a blog by an Iraqi woman and apparently former computer programmer. The last I … Continue reading
Kitty in da water!
I’ve been planning to do a post about animal intelligence, with videos, but that’s taking a while to put together. (Kinda like putting together my physics Nobel post.) In the meantime, I present two cute animal videos I took in … Continue reading
And the Nobel Peace Prize goes to…
Al Gore and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The award was won for their efforts to raise awareness about global warming. There’s a few interesting things to note about this award. First, it was barely a day … Continue reading
And the Physics Nobel Prize goes to…
Albert Fert and Peter Gruenberg, for the discovery of giant magnetoresistance. This is one of those prizes that’s pretty well-deserved, because giant magnetoresistance is now applied for data readout on pretty much every magnetic hard drive being produced, such as … Continue reading
Happy birthday to another horror giant
Several weeks ago was Roddy McDowell’s birthday; today is the birthday of another great actor of horror films. Happy birthday to Jodelle Ferland! If you haven’t heard of her, I’m not surprised; she’s only 13 years old today.
‘Old Europe’ vs. the United States
There was a nice article in the Washington Post today (h/t to Americablog) about the conventional wisdom view that ‘Old Europe’, i.e. the European Union, is stagnant and decadent. One hears this most from conservatives, who tout the transcendence of … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Travel
4 Comments
Why I love iTunes
I’ve been waiting for well over a year for Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender to appear on Nickelodeon. The season premiere date was shrouded in mystery until practically only a week before it actually appeared. Of course, I … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
Leave a comment
The link between horror and comedy and the best horror/comedy films
Those who read and watch enough in the horror genre know that there’s an odd, difficult to quantify, connection between the genres of comedy and horror. This connection is what attracted me to horror in the first place several decades … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Horror
17 Comments
Hard drive woes (updated)
Mreh. I was welcomed at work this morning with a total hard drive failure. Of course, the way these things work, this happens to be the week that our local computer tech is off on vacation, so I’m forced to … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Leave a comment
Bush to America’s children: Drop dead
Breaking news on CNN is that Bush has used his promised veto against expanding the S-CHIP program, which provides health insurance to children from poor families. The expansion would increase the level of coverage to families of marginally higher income, … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
2 Comments
Skulls in the Stars 