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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 universe ripped me off!
Yesterday, Dr. Matthew Francis (of the very interesting and worth-checking-out physics blog Galileo’s Pendulum) pointed me to NASA’s astronomy picture of the day, Arp 272, which consists of two colliding galaxies (center and upper right) with a third likely interacting … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, General science, Silliness
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Weird science facts, September 14 — September 20
Been a busy week for me, and posting has been light. I haven’t neglected the Twitter #weirdscifacts, however! 550. Sep 14: Have you ever heard of a turtle without a shell? Cantor’s giant softshell turtle is a real oddity: the … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Weird science facts, September 7 — September 13
Here are the week’s Twitter #weirdscifacts! 543. Sep 07: The “massacre of Monkey Hill“. In this insightful post by @ericmjohnson on the evolutionary origins of collective violence, the massacre is described. In 1930, a newly-installed colony of 140 baboons had been … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Two ghost stories: “The Man in the Picture” and “Isis”
It seems that ghost stories have been told since the beginning of speech itself, and have held a special place in the imagination of people for just as long. It is hard to characterize what sets a “ghost story” apart … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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New post: Weird science facts, August 31 — September 06
Here are this week’s Twitter #weirdscifacts! Due to a death in the family, I was traveling and had a difficult time finding facts on some days, but thankfully others stepped in to help me out, and we have two for … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Ancient swords, modern nanotechnology
Though science and technology in the modern era have accomplished things that our ancestors couldn’t even dream of, it is still worth remembering that the ancients weren’t dummies. Through a combination of ingenuity, observation, determination, and probably a lot of … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Physics
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Weird science facts, August 24 — August 30
Here are the Twitter #weirdscifacts for the past week! 529. Aug 24: Avg density of the planet Saturn is so low, it would float in a (sufficiently large) bucket of water. Of course, there are some major caveats to this — … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Mock the Movie: Mega Python vs. Gatoroid!
I’ve been quite busy at work today, but it would be remiss of me not to mention another Twitter Mock the Movie event planned for tonight, in which we will Twitter mock SyFy’s very own Mega Python vs. Gatoroid! The … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Silliness
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August 27, 1883: The island of Krakatoa blows up
Today, August 27th, marks the grim anniversary of one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the final explosion of the island of Krakatoa in 1883. The eruption — and the tsunami that was generated by it — … Continue reading
Posted in General science
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Review of my book in Optics & Photonics News!
This is just a short post to note that my book was reviewed, positively, in the OSA optics magazine Optics & Photonics News! I’ve excitedly posted this information on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, but I figure there are folks that … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
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Skulls in the Stars 