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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: … the Hell?
Slurstorm, and the flaws in “Shirtstorm” arguments
I hate writing posts like this. I prefer to write about fun physics, history of science and cool horror fiction. But some things are so appalling and disgusting that one must speak up, especially if one’s friends are attacked. You … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?
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The Great Sausage Duel of 1865
(Tip o’ the hat to Blake Stacey for first pointing this story out to me!) The history of science is filled with macabre tales of self-experimentation, amoral experimentation on others, horrific accidents, and even mysterious and sinister disappearances. Perhaps the … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
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How anti-vaccination is like a nuclear bomb
Update: tweaked the descriptions of nuclear physics to be a little more specific. I’m not sure that anything fills me with despair more than the trend of parents refusing to vaccinate their children. A couple of weeks ago, an article … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, General science, Health
14 Comments
Infinite series: not quite as weird as some would say
Updated with a third footnote clarifying my use of the term “diverge,” thanks to suggestion by Evelyn Lamb, who has also written an excellent discussion of the problem with the video. At the end of this post I list all the … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Mathematics
32 Comments
The Case of the Telephone in His Hat (1894)
The history of science provides me with a practically never-ending set of delightful surprises! Case in point is a set of articles I found while browsing through volume 17 of Current Literature, “A Magazine of Record and Review,” published in … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
2 Comments
The people at Twitter are fucking morons (updated)
Update below: original block has been restored — I think. This is a bit out of the norm from my usual posts, but this has really pissed me off and I need to rant about it. Also, I need to … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?
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Cat-turning: the 19th-century scientific cat-dropping craze!
One thing I’ve learn from studying the history of science is that scientists are human beings. Often incredibly weird, weird human beings. For example: in the mid-to-late-1800s, an exciting era in which the foundations of electromagnetic theory were set and … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science, Physics
10 Comments
The Science Online 2013 official music video is out!
… and, like last year, I make a couple of silly appearances! A little background about the video from its creator, the awesome Dr. Bondar, can be read here. In short, Science Online is a yearly conference for those science … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, General science, Personal
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The mirror that (didn’t really) make it rain! (1713)
In my last post, I talked about the remarkable career of Etienne-Gaspard Robert aka “Robertson”, who became famous in debunking the supernatural by revealing how ghosts and phantoms could be faked. Remarkably, even today there are still places in the … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
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The Resurrection Men: when people would kill to get into cemeteries
Government has always played, and hopefully will continue to play, a necessary role in scientific and medical research. Many important discoveries have been made through the use of government funding and in government labs, and many of those would never … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
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