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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
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
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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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1842: Jean-Daniel Colladon guides light with water
Big technological advances often start with very humble beginnings. If you’re reading this post on the internet right now, it is almost certain that the information has come to you at some point in the journey in the form of … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics, Physics demos
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Weird Fiction Monday: Treatment
It’s time for Weird Fiction Monday, when I post stories that I’ve written — both new and old — for the entertainment (hopefully) of my readers! As always, I note that I haven’t done extensive editing of the tales here, … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction
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Skulls in the Stars 