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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: Physics
History of the Conservation of Energy: Booms, Blood, and Beer (Part 1)
Another post inspired by my research into my Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics book! Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but merely converted from one form to another. Such is a typical statement of the law of conservation of energy, … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
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Pendulums, spheres, and the spinning Earth
The first of what will hopefully be a small series of posts inspired by research on my Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics book, which will be sent to the publisher this week! Made some small updates for clarity to the … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
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The Fantastic Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics Photo Fundraiser
As you may have heard, I’ve been working on a book on the history and physics of cats landing on their feet, titled “Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics.” The book will be published in early 2019, hopefully, and I’m really … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, History of science, Physics
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Taylor sees the (feeble) light (1909)
Most people, even non-scientists, are aware these days of the notion that light acts sometimes like a wave, sometimes like a particle, depending on the circumstances. This wave-particle duality is a fundamental aspect of nature, applying to all elementary particles, … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics, Physics
5 Comments
Dr. SkySkull on WCNC!
For those who just can’t get enough of seeing me on camera (read: my parents), yesterday I did a very short spot on WCNC TV to promote UNCC’s Science and Technology Expo that is happening tomorrow, noon-4 pm, on the … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Personal, Physics
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Arago finds new physics with a compass (1824)
One of the challenges of doing physics outreach is that there are so many cool phenomena which simply can’t be demonstrated in an eye-catching way, because they are too small, too subtle, or too complicated. So whenever I find a … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
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Chladni patterns, now in color!
One of my favorite physics demonstrations to perform at local schools, conventions, and expos is the production of Chladni patterns, such as the one shown below. I’ve blogged about these patterns before. They are formed by vibrating a metal plate … Continue reading
Posted in Physics, Physics demos
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Somnium, by Johannes Kepler
I’ve had an interest for a while in ridiculously old science fiction, such as Margaret Cavendish’s 1666 novel The Blazing World, as well as science fiction written by prominent scientists, such as Simon Newcomb’s His Wisdom the Defender (1900), Robert … Continue reading
Posted in Physics, Science fiction
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1965: Rabbits versus relativity
One of a number of posts that I’ll be sharing based on things discovered during research into my book on cat physics, coming next year! The previous post on the Chandler wobble is another post in this series. The ability … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Animals, History of science, Physics
5 Comments
1891: Chandler finds a wobble
Sometimes, in science, it turns out that the best way to find something is to not be looking for it at all. This is more or less what happened in 1891, when an amateur astronomer and full-time insurance actuary observed … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
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