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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
Fake Book Titles Extravaganza #4!
Time for another round of Fake Book Titles that I’ve done, compiled from twitter! You can see compilation 1, compilation 2 and compilation 3 at the links. Been struggling a bit more with inspiration the past few months, but let’s see … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Silliness
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Jasmine: Journey Into Power coloring book
I haven’t been blogging much lately, because *gestures hands at everything* but I wanted to give a shoutout and a boost to a friend’s work today! If you’ve been following for a while, you may remember that not too long … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction, Personal
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The Anniversary of the Laser at Cambridge University Press – Part 2!
As promised, here’s the link to part 2 of my two-part series of posts at Cambridge University Press on the 60th anniversary of the laser! This post features a discussion of the basic ideas of how a laser works, like … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics
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The Anniversary of the Laser at Cambridge University Press – Part 1!
On May 16, 1960, Theodore Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories was the first person to create the now ubiquitous and important source of light that we know as the LASER – Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. This year … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics
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The first news report of the laser (1960)
So this year is the 60 year anniversary of the invention of the laser, which was finally accomplished by Theodore Maiman on May 16, 1960 (mark your calendar!). I recently wrote a blog post about the physics and history of … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science, Optics
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Forgotten Milestones in the History of Optics: video!
Okay, here’s one more classic video from my regular seminar series: Forgotten Milestones in the History of Optics! This was one of the earliest semi-popular seminars I put together. More videos and posts to come!
Posted in History of science, Optics
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How Not To Be Seen: the video!
Continuing my series of uploaded videos, tonight I recorded a version of my How Not To Be Seen: The history and science of invisibility seminar, which I’ve given and revised for probably close to ten years now! I’ve shared links … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
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Vortices in beams of light and vortex coronagraphy video!
I while ago, I shared slides from a talk I gave at the Charlotte Amateur Astronomy Club on “Vortices in beams of light and vortex coronagraphy.” Now that I, like everyone else, am more or less homebound, I thought I … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics
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Skulls in the Stars 