-
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: Science news
15 days until The Giant’s Shoulders #2!
This seemed like as good a time as any to remind readers that we’re 15 days out before the deadline of The Giant’s Shoulders #2, to be held at The Lay Scientist. Entries can be submitted through blogcarnival.com, or sent … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
Leave a comment
Feeling history in your bones: Brühl’s Terrace
Via OhGizmo!, we find that an exhibit exists (or did exist) on Brühl’s Terrace in Dresden, Germany, which allows one to experience the simulated sounds of the devastating 1945 bombing of the city simply by resting oneself against a railing … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
Leave a comment
No surprise: Girls just as good at math as boys
The title says it all: via CNN, we learn that a comprehensive study published today in Science (for those with access, the article can be read here) shows that girls perform just as well as boys in mathematics. This study … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
36 Comments
The Giant’s Shoulders #1 is up!
The first edition of The Giant’s Shoulders is now up at A Blog Around The Clock. Being the first, there’s a huge number of entries to the carnival, so check it out! The next edition will happen at The Lay … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
Leave a comment
Five days left until The Giant’s Shoulders!
Just a reminder that the deadline for submissions to the first edition of The Giant’s Shoulders is coming up on July 15th! Entries should be sent to Coturnix at A Blog Around The Clock. For the first edition, there is … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
Leave a comment
Rant time: The End of Theory? (Updated)
This one’s already been passed around the blogosphere like a cheap bottle of wine, but I feel the urge to comment on it myself. A recent issue of Wired Magazine has an essay by Chris Anderson with the very provocative … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, General science, Science news
10 Comments
Ancient palm tree resurrected!
Via Science Magazine, we learn some fascinating news: a group of biologists and botanists have managed to grow a palm tree from a 2000-year old seed! In 1963, archaeologists excavating King Herod’s fortress near the Dead Sea uncovered a small … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
2 Comments
Lost divers shamelessly rip off ‘Lost’ and ‘Land of the Lost’!
Last Thursday, a group of divers went missing on what was supposed to be a routine tour dive in Indonesia. On Saturday, all five were rescued from the island of Rinca near Komodo Island, having spent two days surviving on … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Science news
1 Comment
Seiches in Chicago
This is interesting. Only a couple of weeks after I wrote about the phenomena of seiches, powerful winds on Lake Michigan produced a seiche which washed up on the Chicago shoreline (h/t my Mom). This seiche was not devastating or … Continue reading
Posted in Science news
Leave a comment
China earthquake and a word about seiches
The tally of death and devastation in China in the aftermath of the earthquake continues to grow; now the official death toll is 22,000, with 14,000 still buried under rubble. In addition, repeated aftershocks are hitting the region. Numerous eyewitness … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Physics, Science news
1 Comment
Skulls in the Stars 