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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
Hilda Hänchen and the Goos-Hänchen effect
Today, the United Nations declared February 11 to be the “International Day of Women and Girls in Science,” starting a new effort to get more women into science and keep them there. In honor of this new day, I thought … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics, Women in science
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While the Black Stars Burn, by Lucy A. Snyder
Though it has been almost a century since H.P. Lovecraft essentially invented and championed the genre of cosmic horror, it remains an incredibly popular source of inspiration for writers. I suspect this is the case because authors have taken Lovecraft’s … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Twitter Weird Science Facts, Volume 2
Continuing to post a #weirdscifacts a day on Twitter; here’s the latest summary since my last posting! 16. (January 16). Project A119, when the US almost nuked the Moon to boost domestic morale. The Cold War was a really scary time, … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Weirdscifacts
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Beautiful equations of math and physics: my picks
A few days ago, the BBC introduced a series of posts in which they asked mathematicians and physicists to share their favorite equations. It’s a fun list, and the original post can be found here. One of the equations selected … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics, Physics
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The return of the “Weird science facts!”
Those who have been around this blog for a while will remember that I did a two year nonstop marathon of “weird science facts” (hashtag #weirdscifacts), with at least one fact a day. It got pretty darn hard to keep it up … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Weirdscifacts
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1801: Fraunhofer gets research funding in the worst possible way
It is rather unsettling to think that scientific careers are often made by simple luck. For example, eventual Nobel Prize winner Albert Michelson (1852-1931) only got an education thanks to the literal last-minute intervention of none other than the President … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science, Physics
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Emmie Mears’ Storm in a Teacup
It’s a new year, and time to get back on the blogging train! (It is a train, right? I am so bad with metaphors these days.) Some time back, I realized that I was definitely not reading enough fiction by … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Weird fiction
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Spoiler-filled Star Wars thoughts and open discussion thread
So — I saw it last night. It was amazing. In fact, I saw it just in time, as this tweet of mine indicates: Left theater, walked by little kid blurting out MAJOR movie spoiler. Saw the film JUST IN … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Personal
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The Gun-Fight Before Christmas
Been busy at work and struggling to finish new science posts for the blog. In the meantime, here’s some silliness that I did on twitter. So what does Christmas mean to you? Birth of the savior? A day to strive for … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Politics, Silliness
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Marguerite O’Loghlin Crowe steps from the shadows
Update: Additional images provided by Alice Zent at the end of the post! Some five years ago, I shared an intriguing anecdote from the biography of Albert A. Michelson, in which Michelson — who had a reputation of being incredibly … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Women in science
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Skulls in the Stars 