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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. -
Search Results for: infinity is weird
Weird science facts, August 15-August 28
It’s that time of week again: the Twitter #weirdscifacts for August 15 to August 28 are below the fold!
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Infinite series are weird!
I’m in the mood to do something a little more ‘math-y’! A few weeks ago, Tyler at PowerUp did a nice post about the divergence of the harmonic series, and that got me thinking about the weirdness of infinite series. … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics
18 Comments
A curious mathematical identity
Update: There is more subtlety to the infinite case, which I’ve now addressed in the post! Update 2: Learning so much messing with this! Added a bit more discussion near the end. So on twitter yesterday, the following mathematical identity … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Mathematics
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The People of the Pit, by A. Merritt
Getting close to the end of my run of invisibility in fiction posts! Hope you’ve been enjoying them! Here we take a quick look at a story by one of my favorite weird fiction authors: Abraham Merritt, who went by … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Invisibility, Lovecraft
3 Comments
Salvage in Space, by Jack Williamson
Yep, I’ve still got more invisibility stories to discuss! In fact, I found 4 more through searching old magazines today. Reminder that I’ll have a book on the history of invisibility physics coming out next year! Although invisibility is a … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Science fiction
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How much does a photon weigh?
A couple of weeks ago, after a glass of wine, I did a twitter “ask me anything” about optics and light which resulted in the question that is the title of this post. I took a rough twitter stab at it … Continue reading
Posted in Physics, Relativity
23 Comments
Valley of the Flame, by Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner (1915-1958) may be referred to as “one of the most important science fiction authors you’ve never heard of.” He was incredibly prolific and versatile, writing countless short stories of science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, and adventure, as well … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Weird fiction
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Beautiful equations of math and physics: my picks
A few days ago, the BBC introduced a series of posts in which they asked mathematicians and physicists to share their favorite equations. It’s a fun list, and the original post can be found here. One of the equations selected … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics, Physics
12 Comments
Infinite hotels in swirling beams of light
I’ve noticed there seems to be a general unspoken rule about the relationship between mathematics and science: any mathematics, no matter how abstract or seemingly disconnected from reality, eventually finds use or representation in the natural world. For example, most … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics, Optics
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Curves… in… spaaaace! (1890)
One of the tragedies of STEM education is the seemingly eternal perception by the general public that mathematics is boring and repetitive. Most people, of course, end their math education with algebra at most, though some work their way through … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics
6 Comments
Skulls in the Stars 