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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
Physics demonstrations: Lichtenberg figures
I am a big fan of nature and science-themed artwork, whether inspired by natural phenomenon or created by physical processes. In my office — which includes several pieces of work by Artologica, by the way — I have the following eye-catching piece. … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics demos
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1975: The year that quantum mechanics met gravity
Since the revolutionary development of both theories in the early twentieth century, it is fair to say that general relativity and quantum mechanics have had a rather hostile relationship to one another. One reason for this is simple a matter of … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics, quantum
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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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#365papers, part 1!
At the beginning of this year, my friend Jacquelyn Gill (who blogs over at The Contemplative Mammoth) suggested an interesting resolution for academics like us: read at least one scientific paper a day for the entire year. This has been … Continue reading
Posted in Physics
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The mystery of the magnetic train
This past week, thanks to Laughing Squid and other sources, a lot of people watched and were amazed by this simple demonstration of electromagnetism in action. It is billed as the “world’s simplest electric train,” and it is almost certainly … Continue reading
Posted in Physics, Physics demos
89 Comments
Paris: City of lights and cosmic rays
This post of mine originally appeared on the Scientific American guest blog some time ago. Considering it has been three years, and it’s always been one of my favorite pieces of writing, I thought it was time to “bring it … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
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Physics demonstrations: Faraday disk
I’m prepping a new course to teach this semester: undergraduate Electromagnetism II! I’m trying to put together some nice simple demos to illustrate principles in the class, and I’ll blog some of those that work and are interesting. When Michael … Continue reading
Posted in Physics, Physics demos
23 Comments
Physics demonstrations: Geiger counter
Update: Fixed a couple of incorrect statements regarding cosmic rays and the radiation of uranium. Thanks to encephalartos for the corrections! In recent months, I’ve been diving wholeheartedly into learning how to build and design electronics. My ultimate goal is … Continue reading
Posted in Physics demos
6 Comments
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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A Michael Faraday primer for COSMOS!
I’ve really been enjoying the new version of “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,” though this Sunday’s coming episode has me more excited than any other! Titled “The Electric Boy,” the episode will focus on Michael Faraday (1791-1867), one of the most … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
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