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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: Sports
Some more skydiving videos!
While I’m working on some new physics blog posts, here’s a couple of more skydiving videos that I took with a GoPro!
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New skydiving camera helmet!
After about six months off, I’ve finally gotten back into the air… into freefall, that is! I haven’t been jumping for a while thanks to a combination of reasons, probably in large part to wanting to work on my singular … Continue reading
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Unconventional skydives: helicopter jump!
I haven’t posted any skydiving videos for a while, largely because I’ve long depended on other people, with cameras, to video me in freefall. This Christmas, my lovely wife got me a GoPro, however, and the other day I finally broke … Continue reading
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Skydives at CarolinaFest 2012!
I’ve been quite busy and having a hard time putting together some science posts. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a video of a couple of skydives I did a bit over a week ago at CarolinaFest 2012 at … Continue reading
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My 1000th skydive!
Well, I finally did it — I made my 1000th skydive! On the 18th of December, 2011, my friends came out to join me in celebrating this milestone. The video is posted below. We had done a practice jump (number … Continue reading
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5-way formation skydive!
It occurred to me, after some discussion on Twitter, that I haven’t posted any skydiving videos for a while! Part of the problem is that I haven’t had that many videos taken over the past half-year; the other part of … Continue reading
A new paper airplane world record!
Via The Huffington Post, I found this story pretty exciting: a Japanese man has made a new world record for the longest duration flight of a paper airplane! Only one man – Japanese paper airplane virtuoso Takuo Toda – has … Continue reading
Posted in Science news, Sports
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On passing adult bronze ‘moves in the field’
Whew! One more stressful deadline is passed, and successfully! On Sunday, I passed my adult bronze ‘moves in the field’ figure skating test! Of course, most readers probably have no idea what that means. The USFSA (U.S. Figure Skating Association) … Continue reading
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Skating a rollercoaster?
I know people will call me nuts, but this looks like fun: via The Daily Mail, we learn that an extreme sports enthusiast took a high-speed ride on a rollercoaster — on specially designed roller skates! An adrenaline junkie has … Continue reading
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900th skydive milestone!
Just a short note: yesterday I made three skydives, the third of which was my 900th! Up until the 1000th jump, skydivers tend to treat every 100th jump as a personal milestone. Due to work, I’ve been jumping quite irregularly, … Continue reading
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