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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
Review of “Mathematical Methods” at Science After Sunclipse!
Just a quick bit of news: Blake Stacey has reviewed my textbook, Mathematical Methods for Optical Physics and Engineering, over at his blog Science After Sunclipse! Although he rightly busts my chops over a number of typos in the text … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics, Personal
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Weird science facts, October 5 — October 11
Right on schedule, here is the latest week’s crop of Twitter #weirdscifacts! 571. Oct 05: The most used & successful medicine of BAYERCorp. is not Aspirin – it’s Heroin. (h/t @rmathematicus) 572. Oct 06: The peacock spider — the male … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Faster than a speeding photon? Precursors test whether light can be faster than light
Over the past two weeks, the biggest physics news has been the apparent observation of neutrinos (nearly undetectable subatomic particles) moving faster than the vacuum speed of light. At first glance, this would seem to violate Einstein’s special theory of … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics, Relativity
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9 days until the deadline for The Giant’s Shoulders #40!
We had a bit of a delay in the posting of TGS #39, but don’t forget that this means that the deadline for the 40th edition of The Giant’s Shoulders, the history of science blog carnival, is coming up quickly! You … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is for quasicrystals!
I just learned that the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2011 was awarded to Dan Shechtman “for the discovery of quasicrystals”! The Nobel site has a good explanation of the background. I should also point out that I did a … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
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Weird science facts, September 28 — October 4
Somewhere along the way, I failed to notice that I passed the 1 1/2 year mark of #weirdscifacts on Twitter! Enjoy them while you can — I’ll be definitely stopping at 2 years! 564. Sep 28: The psychedelic frogfish moves … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Science careers: rough today, rough in 1886
Science has changed a lot over the past hundred years or so, but the lives and problems of scientists have, in many ways, remained surprisingly constant. In a previous post, I described how, in 1804, a mathematician was already lamenting … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
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Weird science facts, September 21 — September 27
This week’s Twitter #weirdscifacts are here! 557. Sep 21: At 22 km tall, the Martian volcano Olympus Mons is the tallest mountain in the solar system. (Everest is 9 km.) Technically, it is the “tallest known”, but it is hard … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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T.C. McCarthy’s “Germline”
I’m not particularly well-versed in science fiction — at least current science fiction — but occasionally I see something that really intrigues me. I’ve always found novels about future warfare particularly compelling, such as Robert Heinlein’s famous/infamous Starship Troopers (1959), John … Continue reading
Posted in Science fiction
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The Giant’s Shoulders #39 is out! (Part one!)
Part one of The Giant’s Shoulders #39 history of science blog carnival, which was delayed for a few days, is up at the blog Mammoth Tales!* Thanks to John McKay for posting and hosting, despite having some serious work to … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Skulls in the Stars 