Top 50 Physics Blogs
Physics, a natural science, studies the essence and interrelationships of matter, energy, force, and time. Concepts and ideas are often expressed in mathematical terms and, therefore, it has often been said that math is the language of physics.
The growth of blogs has allowed open access to physics research and concepts once confined to the ivory towers of academia. Upon exploring the blogosphere for worthy physics blogs, we found that many blogs are written by Ph.D. candidates, postgraduates, and professors, and we discovered a common theme: Physics should be part of everyday conversation, and abstruse concepts should be presented in a manner that can be understood by most.
Many bloggers revealed that as they elucidated physics, scientific, and mathematical concepts for a diverse audience, they, in-turn, experienced an even greater level of understanding thus illustrating an observation made by Albert Einstein, “you do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.”
Our Favorite Five - Physics Concepts - Quantum Physics - Mathematical Physics - Particle Physics - Physics Education - Cosmology
Our Favorite Five
- Physics Buzz Subtitled “Physics Fun and Science News,” this blog is an abundant and resplendent physics and related science resource.
- Why We Love It: This blog features well-written posts with sharp, brilliant pictures highlighting current and interesting physics topics (i.e., the latest buzz). With more than 1,000 posts to date, it is a terrific resource.
- Check This Out: Airport Body Scanners: To Fear or Not to Fear?, Fluid Dynamics & the Wet-Dog Shake, DIY Fusion: There Goes The Neighborhood
- Physics and Cake Authored by Dr. Suzanne Gilbert, an experimental physicist working in the field of quantum computing and devices, this blog’s purpose is to provide insight into what research scientists do on a day-to-day basis and to share aspects of the author's own research in the field.
- Why We Love It: As reflected in the title, this site presents complex physics concepts as everyday topics that might be discussed over tea and cake.
- Check This Out: The ‘Observer With a Hammer’ Effect, Physics Post-Singularity, Life Logging – An Urge to Create a Sparse But Useful Dataset?
- Shores of the Dirac Sea This is a blog about physics, math, and science in support of the theory that quantum fields are the fundamental entity of nature, and everything else is a derived concept.
- Why We Love It: We love the author’s commitment to presenting posts on the importance of physics for humanity.
- Check This Out: Digging Back in Time For an Identity, Gravity does not exist?, Emergent Gravity
- Cocktail Party Physics Cocktail Party Physics is a group science blog operated as a virtual salon where contributors and readers share the latest news and ideas on physics and science.
- Why We Love It: This captivating blog forum, moderated by a virtual hostess/”faux-French avatar” Jen-Luc Piquant, is fun, original, and chock-full of great physics insights.
- Check This Out: Serpentine Style, We Got Your Buckyballs Right Here, Helium: A Weighty Question
- Physics and Physicists This blog is the result of the author’s efforts to consolidate physics links and information in a single resource.
- Why We Love It: With more than 2,000 posts to date, this blog is an amazing wealth of physics information in a single resource.
- Check This Out: How Cats Drink, The Wet-Dog Shake, Quantum Quackery
Physics Concepts
- Physics This multilingual blog, presented in English and Farsi, features posts on current physics research and technology, famous physicists and their discoveries, and upcoming conferences and workshops.
- Eddie's Blog on Energy and Physics This blog, authored by Eddie Devere, focuses on topics related to physics and alternative energy generation and seeks to answer “why is that” questions.
- Physics World This extensive blog is sponsored by the Institute of Physics (IOP), a professional scientific organization for physicist based in the United Kingdom. It provides news, views, and information relating to the study and application of physics for the globally physics community.
- Ask a Mathematician/Ask a Physicist This unique blog evolved from a booth the two authors operated at the Burning Man festival. The physicist answers a variety of physics-related questions ranging from profound (“what is the meaning of life?”) to fundamental (“why is our vision blurred underwater?”).
- Cool Physics This insightful blog is aimed at keeping readers up to date on the most current physics advancements, as well as highlighting the field’s impact on society and the world.
- Physics for My Mom This blog is authored by a Yale Ph.D. and was inspired by his desire to explain his field of study and research to his parents (an editor and a writer) and others without a science background, while at the same time being careful not to underrate the audience's level of understanding.
- Talk Like a Physicist Described by the author as a “light hearted view of fun in physics,” this blog presents amusing and interesting aspects of the field.
- Uncertain Principles This captivating blog’s title is a reference to the Heisenberg Uncertainly Principle. It is authored by Chad Orzel, an assistant college professor and author of the book, “How to Teach Physics to Your Dog.”
- Life and Physics John Butterworth, a physics professor at University College London, presents this blog as a means “to make science a bigger part of the cultural conversation.” Post topics include String Theory, Particle Physics, and CERN research.
- The Language of Bad Physics; The Language of Bad Physics The posts presented in this blog, authored by Sarah Kavassalis, are divided into three main categories: bad language (e.g., sloppy terminology and incorrect definitions), bad physics (e.g., time travel and anti-gravity expositions), and “This Week in the Universe” a weekly presentation highlighting current physics research.
- The n-Category Café Originally started as a forum for discussing Klein 2-geometry, this group blog focuses on the interface between mathematics, physics and philosophy.
- Physics ArXiv blog - Technology Review ; The Physics ArXiv Blog This blog from MIT’s “Technology Review” online magazine presents daily coverage of the best new ideas from PhysicsArXiv, an online resource from Cornell University Library.
- Gravity and Levity The author of this encompassing blog is a graduate student in theoretical physics and devotes his blog to the “conceptual discussion of the big ideas in physics” and their interpretation. Topics include quantum bound states, entropy and free energy, and Friedel oscillations.
- Swans on Tea Authored by Tom Swanson, a physicist researching and developing atomic clocks, this blog presents interesting and amusing physics-themed posts “because science and learning are cool…”
- Peculiar Velocity This engaging blog is presented by Ben Lillie, a physicist who studied elementary particle theory before embarking on a career change. He currently hosts “The Story Collider,” a monthly science storytelling show.
- Backreaction This blog is authored by two theoretical physicists – Sabine Hossenfelder, an assistant professor in high energy and nuclear physics and Stefan Scherer, a physicist who completed his Ph.D. in heavy ion physics. Topics include Cosmic Strings, Bouncing Neutrons, and Physics beyond the Standard Model.
- Complex Matters This fascinating blog is authored by a professor of theoretical physics at Oxford University. The title relates to his study of emergent phenomena.
- Physics Musings Subtitled, “Tale of a physicist’s comeback,” this insightful blog follows the author’s return to the field of physics research after taking a post-Ph.D. hiatus to work as a programmer. The blog aims “to share the joy” of rediscovering physics.
- Swans on Tea Authored by Tom Swanson, a physicist researching and developing atomic clocks, this blog presents interesting and amusing physics-themed posts “because science and learning are cool…"
- Physics-Based Animation This site is dedicated to accumulating and highlighting research and advances in the field of physics-based animation for computer graphics. Post topics focus primarily on passive animation and include rigid, deformable, and articulated bodies as well as cloth, shells, hair, liquids, gases/smoke, explosions, and fracture.
- Nanoscale views This blog is inspired by the author’s disenchantment with finding that most online physics forum covered high energy physics and astrophysics. After asking “why should the high energy and astro folks have all the fun?” he was inspired to present a blog with topics related to condensed matter and nanoscale physics.
- Soul Physics This blog highlights issues in history and the philosophy of science. Physics topics include String Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes, and Relativity
- OrangeSky This amusing blog presents examples of the presence and impact of physics in everyday areas of life. Posts include physics’ impact on snow globes, video and computer games, and shower curtains.
- 2Physics This blog presents key developments in physics and invites guest authors to submit both published articles based on their own research as well as proposals for articles to be written and published on the site.
- Skulls in the Stars The author of this blog is an associate professor of physics specializing in optical science at UNC Charlotte. Topics include physics and optics, the history of science, pulp fantasy, horror fiction, and how those topics intersect.
Quantum Physics
- Physic Intuitions This blog, authored by Arjen Dijksman, a Ph.D. student specializing in collodial quantum dots, is “dedicated to bringing physics, math, and quantum nearer to everyday life.”
- Shores of the Dirac Sea This is an intriguing blog about physics, math, and science in support of the theory that quantum fields are the fundamental entity of nature and everything else is a derived concept. The author also seeks to provide posts on the ways physics is important for humanity.
- Quantized Thoughts The author of this comprehensive blog is a physicist and quantum information graduate student at Oxford researching quantum computation. The blog has had regular postings since 2005.
- Quantum Moxie Subtitled “Quantum Mechanics with an Attitude,” this blog’s author is an applied mathematician and theoretical physicist researching quantum information, quantum foundations, quantum gravity, and other topics of interest in the fields of mathematics and physics. Moxie, a carbonated beverage popular in New England, is the author’s favorite soft drink.
- The Blob - Quantum Physics and AstroPhysics for Discerning Biological Entities This is an astrobiology blog with posts centered on quantum physics including superconductivity, correlated electrons, quantum gases, and astro physics.
Mathematical Physics
- Multiplication by Infinity Authored by Steven Colyer, this blog presents topics on mathematical physics and its effects on humanity and other life forms. It also presents discussions on the author’s pyron theory. Colyer describes a "pyron" as the smallest "atom of space" and notes that it exists in the form of a tetrahedron, or pyramid.
- Azimuth John Baez, a mathematical physicist and a The n-Category Café contributing author, presents this blog featuring topics related to math, physics, biology, and computer science with an emphasis on ways in which scientists can save a planet in crisis: earth.
- EMPG Blog · Mathematical Physics in Edinburgh This astute blog is presented by the Edinburgh Mathematical Physics Group, a collective of university mathematical and theoretical physicists whose research centers on diverse aspects of mathematical physics.
Particle Physics
- Not Even Wrong This blog is authored by Peter Woit, who has a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and is a lecturer in mathematics at Columbia University. He also wrote the book, “Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law.” This blog is in support of the author’s proposition that “String Theory, despite its two decades of dominance, is just a hunch aspiring to be a theory.”
- Looking inside the standard model This blog discuss the author’s research on the standard model of particle physics (i.e., the current idea of how the smallest objects, the elementary particles, work).
- Life as a Physicist Gordon Watts, presents this blog as a means of making science more accessible and features posts highlighting aspects of high energy physics.
- Experimental Particle Physicists at Imperial College London This impressive blog is written by undergraduate and postgraduate students, research associates, and staff at the Imperial College London High Energy Physics Group. The group investigates fundamental particles and associated forces; the origin of mass; matter and antimatter; and aspects of the Standard Model.
- Symmetry factor This blog is authored by Alexey Petrov, an associate professor of physics and astronomy specializing in high energy physics. He currently works in the field of theoretical physics. The blog reflects the author’s perspectives on the application of quantum field theory and particle phenomenology.
- RÉSONAANCES This is a particle theory blog presenting the latest ideas in particle physics and astrophysics, as well as research information from the CERN Theoretical Group.
- Collider Blog The author of this blog is a tenured university professor and particle physics researcher. The blog is presented “to show the excitement, challenge and triumphs of accelerator-based particle physics.
Physics Education
- Physics Factory Birmingham This blog, authored by Philip Jones, the Physics Factory director of learning, is aimed at stemming the decline of physics education in U.K. schools and universities and is focused on increasing Britain’s competitiveness in the global arena. The Physics Factory project provides continuing education for teachers and scholarships for secondary education physics students.
- Jacobs Physics This blog is authored by Greg Jacobs, a high school advanced placement physics teacher and is intended as a physics resource for high school and college introductory physics teachers and students.
- Physics Will Always Triumph This blog is an academic project and proclaims “in the end you cannot avoid physics.” Its focus is the effect of the laws of physics on everyday life.
- Everyday Physics This blog is an academic assignment documenting life experiences through the eyes of a physics-literate person.
- Living With Physics Authored by a physics teacher, this blog is a reflection of his 12 years of experience teaching physics. It includes answers to questions posed by his students as well as examination tips, teaching resources, and interesting articles and events related to physics.
- The First Excited State This blog chronicles the day-to-day experiences of a physics grad student (selecting courses, applying for T.A. positions, finding an advisor, choosing research projects, etc.) as well as presenting topics of interest in physics research and academia.
Cosmology
- Anti-Matter The author of this blog teaches an introductory course in big bang cosmology at Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland. The blog addresses topics in cosmology, particle physics, and CERN research.
- HyperGeometrical Universe - The Theory of Everything The aim of this blog is to “present for a broad review in a public setting” the author’s theory of a hypergeometrical universe. The theory is composed of four parts: grand unification theory, cosmology, cosmogenesis, and the hyper-geometrical standard model. This blog focuses on the first two elements of the theory.
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