Author Archives: skullsinthestars

Chills, by Mary SanGiovanni

Posted on March 27, 2017 by skullsinthestars

I’ve been in a bit of a funk the past few weeks and haven’t been reading much. What I needed to get myself back on track was a nice solid bit of horror fiction, and fortunately I had on hand … Continue reading →

Posted in Horror | Leave a comment

The geometry of weird-shaped dice

Posted on March 9, 2017 by skullsinthestars

I’ve been enjoying a bit of reminiscing about my childhood lately, hunting down old copies of role-playing games I enjoyed in my youth as well as exploring newer games that have come out since then. One thing that has changed dramatically since … Continue reading →

Posted in Mathematics, role-playing games | 19 Comments

Optics basics: reflection

Posted on February 26, 2017 by skullsinthestars

It’s been some 5 years since I wrote my last “Optics basics” post! The goal of that series of posts was to introduce some of the most fundamental concepts in optics in a non-technical way, in part so I wouldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Optics basics | 4 Comments

The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin

Posted on February 5, 2017 by skullsinthestars

After reading the epic Foundation series of novels by Asimov, I was in the mood for a change of pace in science fiction. I turned to another brilliant author, Ursula K. Le Guin, and her classic 1969 novel The Left … Continue reading →

Posted in Science fiction | 3 Comments

Pepper’s last optical illusion: metempsychosis

Posted on January 22, 2017 by skullsinthestars

A month ago, I shared the lengthy, odd and sometimes dramatic history of the illusion commonly known as “Pepper’s ghost,” which I believe is more properly called the “Pepper-Dircks ghost.” In researching this post, I uncovered a wealth of fascinating … Continue reading →

Posted in History of science, Optics | 1 Comment

Foundation’s Edge, Foundation and Earth, by Isaac Asimov

Posted on January 20, 2017 by skullsinthestars

Been rather preoccupied recently with life, but I finally have a moment to catch up on a bit of my book blogging, including discussing the “final” two books of Asimov’s classic Foundation series, namely, Foundation’s Edge (1982) and Foundation and … Continue reading →

Posted in Science fiction | 1 Comment

Twitter Weird Science Facts: Full Year and Final Volume!

Posted on January 2, 2017 by skullsinthestars

This is it — the last regular installment of my Twitter weird science facts! I’ve done a full year of weirdscifacts, averaging one fact per day for the entire year (though I’ve had to play catch up on missed days … Continue reading →

Posted in General science, Weirdscifacts | 3 Comments

19th century optics FAILs

Posted on December 28, 2016 by skullsinthestars

My recent post on the Pepper-Dircks ghost didn’t include even close to all of the interesting tidbits it could have! There are so many things to learn from the story of the ghost, including some lessons about optics. For example: … Continue reading →

Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science, Optics | Leave a comment

Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy

Posted on December 26, 2016 by skullsinthestars

I’ve recently been trying to become more acquainted with science fiction as a genre, as most of my life I’ve been focused primarily on horror fiction. A natural and obvious place to place some emphasis is on classic works from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Science fiction | 6 Comments