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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
The Science Online 2013 official music video is out!
… and, like last year, I make a couple of silly appearances! A little background about the video from its creator, the awesome Dr. Bondar, can be read here. In short, Science Online is a yearly conference for those science … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, General science, Personal
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How to become invisible by “hiding under the carpet”
Since the first theoretical cloaking papers in 2006, the topic of optical invisibility has just gotten stranger and stranger. There have been proposals of optical wormholes, perfect optical illusions, space-time cloaks, and more. Perhaps even more surprising, however, is the … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
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John Blackburn’s “Bury Him Darkly” and “Broken Boy”
Part of why I love writing this blog is rediscovering classic weird fiction that has been lost through misadventure and misfortune. Happily, others share this interest, and some of them are in an even better position to do something about … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Personal
7 Comments
The Giant’s Shoulders #56 is out!
The 56th edition of the history of science blog carnival, The Giant’s Shoulders, is up at The Dispersal of Darwin! In this edition, you can read about: How a (sort of) believer in ancient astronauts almost became U.S. President, The … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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The mirror that (didn’t really) make it rain! (1713)
In my last post, I talked about the remarkable career of Etienne-Gaspard Robert aka “Robertson”, who became famous in debunking the supernatural by revealing how ghosts and phantoms could be faked. Remarkably, even today there are still places in the … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
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Phantasmagoria: How Étienne-Gaspard Robert terrified Paris for science
Scientists are so often imagined to be bland and unimaginative, slaving away at research and taking away the joy of nature. I’m no longer so irritated by this perception as I used to be, but rather surprised by it: going … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Horror, Optics
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His Wisdom The Defender: A Story, by Simon Newcomb (1900)
My explorations of the early history of science fiction and horror has turned up a surprising number of scientists or people with scientific training who have dabbled in speculative fiction. Optical scientist Robert Williams Wood coauthored a pair of science … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Science fiction
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A(nother) visit to the Duke Lemur Center!
One of the best-kept secrets that shouldn’t be a secret at all in North Carolina is the wonderful Duke Lemur Center, situated in Durham, NC. A research facility for the adorable but sadly endangered prosimians, it has the largest collection … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, General science
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Artologica at ScienceOnline (and online)!
Update: Michele will be showing off her work tonight, Friday the first of February, in the Marriott hotel lobby between 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm! This week I’m attending ScienceOnline 2013, the yearly online science communication conference in Raleigh, NC. … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, General science
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The Thing From the Lake, by Eleanor Ingram (1921)
I am continually astonished at the number of truly wonderful books that have been neglected and then forgotten as the years go by. Sometimes the books are simply ahead of their time, sometimes the authors die, leaving no one to … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Skulls in the Stars 