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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
Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 5: The Great Wall
Part 5 in a long series of posts about my month and a half in China. Part 1 can be read here, Part 2 can be read here, Part 3 can be read here, and Part 4 can be read here. … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Travel
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Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 2
As long as I’m still on an old school kick, let me try and catch up with all my posts from twitter! Part 1 of Old School Dungeons & Dragons on the blog can be read here. Without further ado, … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
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Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 1
In recent months, I’ve been somewhat obsessed with my early years of Dungeons & Dragons. I got into the hobby around 1981, the year that the red box Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set came out, and was a pretty hard … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
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A curious mathematical identity
Update: There is more subtlety to the infinite case, which I’ve now addressed in the post! Update 2: Learning so much messing with this! Added a bit more discussion near the end. So on twitter yesterday, the following mathematical identity … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Mathematics
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The Last, by Hanna Jameson
Life has been rough lately… and by “lately,” I kinda mean the past two years, for various reasons, on and off. Because of that, I’ve struggled to focus on reading fiction, much to my own dismay. However, I opted to … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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Vortices in beams of light and vortex coronagraphy
This past Friday, I was invited to give a talk at the monthly meeting of the Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club, a lovely organization that has been around since 1954. As a theoretical physicist, I am not that well-versed on astronomy … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Personal, Physics
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Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 4: the Shandong Museum
Part 3 in a long series of posts about my month and a half in China. Part 1 can be read here, Part 2 can be read here, and Part 3 can be read here. On my first weekend in Jinan, … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Travel
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Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 3: Daming Lake
Part 3 in a long series of posts about my month and a half in China. Part 1 can be read here, and Part 2 can be read here. On my first weekend in Jinan I hit two of the … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Travel
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Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 2: What I ate
Part 2 in a long series of posts about my month and a half in China. Part 1 can be read here. Before I dive into a post of more history, culture and scenery of China, I thought I would … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Travel
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Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 1: Baotu Spring
So I’m back home after my epic month and a half trip to China! It was a really lovely experience: my hosts were incredibly kind and generous, I got to see and do a lot of things that I’ve only … Continue reading
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