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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
Infinity is weird: how big is infinity?
How big is infinity? Most people, though familiar with the general concept of infinity, would probably answer with a simple, question-dodging response of “infinite.” To be fair, the infinite is a really difficult concept to wrap one’s head around, and … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics
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Halloween Treats 2013
Every year since I started this blog back in 2007, I’ve been posting a collection of “Halloween Treats”: classic short stories of horror that are freely available to read on the internet. You can read my previous editions: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Lovecraft
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H.G. Wells’ zombies
These days, zombies are everywhere: from television series, to movies, to books, even to television commercials. If you were to ask people how this craze got started, most would point back to the classic 1968 film Night of the Living … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Science fiction
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“How the Ray Gun Got Its Zap,” by Stephen Wilk (Updated)
There are a lots of popular science books out there, but a relatively small fraction of those books are related to physics. And of those popsci books related to physics, there are only a small fraction that discuss optics.* And … Continue reading
Posted in Optics
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Basil Copper’s “Necropolis” and “Into the Silence”
Thanks to a busy workload over the past few months, I’m way behind in my blogging on a variety of topics! I thought I’d start catching up first on my backlog of weird fiction, as I’ve been reading an immense … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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My appearance on WCCB TV!
In the annals of “shameless self-promotion,” I should note one more appearance I’ve made in local media! Yesterday, a journalist from WCCB TV in Charlotte stopped by my office to interview me on camera about invisibility physics and the interesting … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
3 Comments
Communication via vortices?
This is the second in a series of posts about the upcoming OSA Frontiers in Optics meeting in Orlando. This post covers research related to the presentation FM3F.1: Alan E. Willner, Multiplexing Information-Carrying Orthogonal Beams using Orbital Angular Momentum States. To be (hopefully) cross-posted … Continue reading
Posted in Optics
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A brief NPR interview with me on invisibility!
Continuing my recent streak of self-aggrandizing posts, I wanted to point out (again, for those who don’t follow me elsewhere) that I recorded a short interview the other day for our local Charlotte NPR affiliate, WFAE, on the physics of … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
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John Blackburn’s “A Scent of New-Mown Hay” and “The Flame and the Wind”
Valancourt Books has been releasing new editions of classic John Blackburn books faster than I can blog about them! I’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about Blackburn on this blog, and with good reason: he was an amazing … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Dr. SkySkull talking invisibility in the News & Observer!
This has already been making the rounds via other social media today, but for those who aren’t on Facebook or Twitter (lookin’ at you, Dad!), I was interviewed by the News & Observer about invisibility physics and the article appeared … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
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Skulls in the Stars 