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{{Infobox scientist
| name = Charles Shults III
| alt = Charles Shults III
| nationality = American
| residence = Florida, United States
| fields = Engineering, robotics, solar energy, planetary science
| workplaces = Xenotech Research; Shults Laboratories; formerly Martin Marietta Aerospace
| known_for = Solar energy development; claimed identification of fossil-like objects in Mars rover imagery; robotics and artificial intelligence research
}}

'''Charles Shults III''', who publishes and lectures as '''Sir Charles Shults III''', is an American engineer, inventor and independent researcher known for his work on solar energy technology, robotics and artificial intelligence, and for his controversial claim that images returned by NASA's Mars rovers contain recognisable fossils. He is the founder of Xenotech Research and has presented his solar energy work to the independent-inventor community at the [[Tesla Tech]] ExtraOrdinary Technology Conference.

==Biography==
According to biographies published by ''Coast to Coast AM'' and The Space Show, Shults spent about ten years at Martin Marietta Aerospace working on weapons systems and computer-based automated test equipment. He is credited there with writing the nuclear EMP test software for the Pershing II missile system, and with contributions to the Patriot missile, the Copperhead anti-tank round and the Advanced Attack Helicopter programmes. He has also carried out research under grant on nuclear fusion, served as chief engineer of a planetarium, and taught robotics and rocketry.

Shults uses the honorific "Sir": by his own account he was knighted by the Baron of Balquhain, whose barony is in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in connection with a long-term grant supporting his research in robotics and artificial intelligence. He operates the research ventures Xenotech Research, Shults Laboratories and the Universe Science Center.

He has been a recurring guest on ''Coast to Coast AM'' since 2004 and has appeared on The Space Show, discussing Mars imagery, private space exploration, energy alternatives and artificial intelligence.

==Scientific contributions==

===Solar energy===
Shults argues that the central obstacle to large-scale solar power is not the availability of sunlight but the collection, concentration and storage of it. In his conference presentations he notes that sunlight will readily heat a metal surface beyond the point of touch, but that turning that heat into usable, dispatchable power is a separate engineering problem. He is critical of the conventional photovoltaic panel on two grounds — comparatively poor conversion efficiency, and limited service life — and advocates a combined approach in which photovoltaic conversion is set alongside revived and updated solar-thermal methods.

His stated expectation is that new technologies, together with mature technologies reworked for the purpose, will make clean solar power available on a massive scale, with applications ranging from domestic use up to space travel. In interviews he has emphasised the storage gap in the solar and wind industries, arguing that although far more than enough power can be harvested, adequate storage capacity does not yet exist.

===Mars imagery===
Shults is best known publicly for his analysis of imagery from the NASA Mars Exploration Rovers, in which he identifies objects he interprets as fossilised remains of Martian organisms, along with other features he regards as artefacts rather than natural rock. He set out this case in his book ''A Fossil Hunter's Guide to Mars''. This work has been rejected by mainstream commentators, who attribute the identifications to pareidolia; Shults maintains that the morphologies are too regular and too repeatedly encountered to be dismissed as chance patterning in weathered rock.

===Robotics and artificial intelligence===
Shults has worked for many years on robotics and machine intelligence, the field for which his research grant was awarded, and has taught the subject. He has also written on space resource development, astronomy and atmospheric science.

==TeslaTech==
Shults presented at the [[Tesla Tech]] ExtraOrdinary Technology Conference, held at the University of New Mexico Student Union in Albuquerque:
* "Developments in Solar Energy" — 2008 ExtraOrdinary Technology Conference, Saturday 2 August 2008, Session 6 (Alternative Energy Technology). Listed in the programme as "Sir Charles Shults". A recording is available on the TeslaTech channel: [https://youtu.be/YR8VF6GCzzw "Sir Charles Shults — Solar Energy"]

==Works==
* ''A Fossil Hunter's Guide to Mars'' (ISBN 978-1-4507-2063-2)
* ''The Living Galaxy''
* ''Oneiros''
* Numerous technical articles on space, astronomy, atmospheric science and space resource development

==External links==
* [https://youtu.be/YR8VF6GCzzw "Developments in Solar Energy" — TeslaTech ExtraOrdinary Technology Conference]
* [https://www.thespaceshow.com/guest/sir-charles-shults Sir Charles Shults at The Space Show]
* [https://www.coasttocoastam.com/guest/shults-iii-charles-6327/ Charles Shults III at Coast to Coast AM]

[[Category:Scientist|Shults Charles]]
[[Category:New Energy|Shults Charles]]