The Great Geek Manual

Best Physics Blogs

Those physics has long been a topic of some fascination for me, it seems like the field is advancing more rapidly than can practically be followed by a laymen these day. Not to mention that even the most devoted enthusiasts have a rough time of wading through what the average physicist considers publishable copy. Luckily, there’s no shortage of physics blogs aimed armchair physicists. Here are a few of my favorites, carefully chosen for readability from across the web.

Bad Astronomy – Discover magazine’s astronomy blog written by astronomer Phil Plait. It focused on astronomy, with a frequent-but-short posts that are about an equal mix of hard science and entertainment.

Cocktail Party Physics – Fascinating forays into different areas of physics concerning pop culture.

Cosmic Log – A news blog covering physical sciences, space science, and technology innovation. It’s currently written by MSNBC science editor Alan Boyle.

Cosmic Variance – Discover magazine’s theoretical physics blog, written by seven or so physicists and astrophysicists, covering recent physics news, research, and discoveries.

Dot Physics – Possibly my all-time favorite physics blog. Written by a physics professor, it includes a lot of great physics content, like explanations of why movies defy physics and geeky commentary on Myth Busters. Definitely worth a look.

Physics Buzz – Physics Central highlights interesting articles from various physics blogs and important news in physics. Sock optional.

The Reference Frame – Lubos Motl’s blog, in which he rails against string theory skeptics, women in physics, and various other random topics, often in intense and passionate language. (Frequent rants)

Swans on Tea – Frequent short posts, highlighting physics, technology, and humor. Lots of YouTube videos.

Talk Like a Physicist – A lighthearted pop culture blog on humor and merchandise for physics and math nerds. Basically you average blog with a physics bent.

Twisted Physics – Written by the author of “Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics” and “The Physics of the Buffyverse,” Twisted Physics is the Discovery Channel’s blog on astrophysics and astronomy topics.

Honorable Mentions

The AstroDyke Asymptotia At the Speed of Light Backreaction Charm &c. Coherence * Cycle Quark Dean W. Armstrong Dynamics of Cats The e-Astronomer Foundational Questions Institute From the Bench A Geocentric View Imaginary Potential In the Dark Incoherently Scattered Ponderings Information Processing The Inverse Square Blog Jacques Distler John Baez’s This Week’s Finds Leaves on the Line Life as a Physicist Life on the Lattice Lounge of the Lab Lemming Luis Sanchez metadatta Michael Nielsen Mike Brown’s Planets Nanoscale Views The n-Category Cafe Non-equilibrium Phenomena Not Even Wrong

Often in Error Orange Quark P.P. Cook’s Tangent Space Peculiar Velocity Physics and Physicists Physics Buzz Quantum Diaries The Quantum Pontiff Qulog Reality Conditions Resonaances Road to Unification Robert Helling Science After Sunclipse Shores of the Dirac Sea Shtetl-Optimized Skulls in the Stars Space Politics Star Stryder Strange Paths Swans On Tea systemic Ted Bunn’s Blog Theorema Egregium Tommaso Dorigo Tom’s Astronomy Blog Twisted Physics Uncertain Principles US/LHC Blogs Watered Down Physics When in Doubt, Do