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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. -
Category Archives: Invisibility
My Google Hangout Seminar on Invisibility Physics!
In lieu of more substantial writing on the blog, here’s a link to another presentation I gave! I was invited to give a Google Hangout Seminar at the University of Central Arkansas on “How Not to be Seen: The History … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics, Personal
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Null-field radiationless sources: even more invisible than invisible?
I spend a lot of time talking about invisibility on this blog, as it is a subject near and dear to me: I did my PhD work, completed in 2001, on early historical forms of invisibility. I like to tell … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
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Cloaking from earthquakes?
There has been a lot of excitement among researchers about the science of invisibility over the past decade, and a variety of designs of invisibility cloaks have been suggested since the groundbreaking 2006 papers. I’ve talked a lot about invisibility … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility
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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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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
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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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Hiding from time? New design of a “temporal cloak” makes waves
Is it possible to make something invisible in time as well as in space? It is a fascinating question, a provocative question, a mind-boggling question… wait… what exactly does it mean to “make something invisible in time?” We’ll get to … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
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Physics demonstrations: cloaking device?
I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog talking about the optics of invisibility, both hypothetical and actual. Though a number of forms of invisibility have been considered in both science and fiction for over a hundred years, the … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics, Physics demos
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Physics demonstrations: invisibility on the cheap!
I spend a lot of time talking about invisibility on this blog, and it really has become a fascinating and vibrant area of optics, with lots of remarkable results. However, most of those results are theoretical, and the experimental results … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics, Physics demos
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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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