Physics web sites

The winners of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics!

Three U.S.-born cosmologists— Saul Perlmutter, Adam G. Riess, and Brian P. Schmidt—have won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace.

Favourite Physics Blogs:

Starts with a Bang!

Award-winning site by a theoretical astrophysicist from Oregon.

Physics World

Up-to-the-minute comment on physics research from the Institute of Physics Publishing.

Cocktail Party Physics

Excellent, funny, relevant and well-written...

Technology Review

Many blog links, many to energy-related topics.

Science Cheerleader

A pro-science blog written by a former professional cheerleader(!?) Check it out!

60 Second Science

From the magazine Scientific American; something new every day.

News & Resources:

International Year of Astronomy 2009

In honour of the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of the telescope to look at the sky, the United Nations declared the year 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy. Events and celebrations were scheduled all year, around the world. Some programs are still continuing, and free stuff is still available at the official website.

400 years of the Telescope

An interactive website with information about the telescope and its history. A "major IMAX release"!

American Physical Society Focus

physicsWeb

An award-winning international list of physics links for news, research, conferences, journals, discussions, jobs, book reviews, resources, history, and more! If you can't find it here ... give up!

Physics Central

Find out how physics is part of your world. They answer your questions on how things work and keep you informed with daily updates on physics in the news. Look here for descriptions of the latest research and the people who are doing it. Maintained by the American Physical Society.

American Institute of Physics

Many physics-related resources, organizations, journals, and other links.

The Physics Hypertextbook

An online "textbook" with a more casual approach. Lots of examples.

and its sister site,

The Chaos Hypertextbook

The mathematics of fractals, oscillators, and other fun stuff.

PhysLINK

Another source for physics and space news and references.

International Centre for Scientific Research

An international list links to scientific organizations, journals, news, research, etc.

NASA: Goddard Space Flight Centre

Links to all NASA projects- past and present- lots of history and great pictures, too.

The World's Largest Scientific Instrument, the Large Hadron Collider

Scientists and engineers have spent nearly 25 years designing and building the 27-kilometre-round machine and its four gigantic experiments. They could tell us what dark matter is made of, what the origin of mass is, where all the antimatter went and throw up countless surprises about the cosmos along the way.

Particle physics in Canada? Yes! Find out more here: www.subatomicphysics.ca

Scientists on Video

The US National Science Foundation, the Public Library of Science, and the San Diego Supercomputing Center are hoping that their new Web site will help demystify important research papers. The site, called SciVee (www.scitube.tv), will allow scientists to upload highly technical papers. But it will also let the researchers post accompanying video presentations that serve as quicker, more approachable guides to their work.

symmetry

An on-line magazine that explores the connections between particle physics and the rest of the world. Produced by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in the US, the magazine originates from the world of particle physics, but shows its interactions with other aspects of life, ranging from philosophy through policy to popular culture.

Planet SciCast

An online repository for short films about science — a bit like a science-specific, moderated version of YouTube. As of July 2009, the site hosts over 150 films on topics ranging from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider to fun things to do with treacle. New content appears on the site every few weeks.

Biographies, History:

AIP Center for History of Physics

An outstanding website on the history of physics and its scientists from the American Institute of Physicists. Many links, too.

A Century of Physics This is a highly recommended website in honour of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Physical Society (APS). APS have also commissioned the production of a series of 11 posters showing the advances in physics in those 100 years. (SWGC has received a set of these posters and they are soon to be mounted for display.)

The Nobel Prizes

All about the prizes, the categories and how they are awarded. A searchable list of winners since 1901. Biographies of the Nobel Prize winners and research summaries. Winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2009, one of whom is a Canadian.

Problems, Tutorials, Study Guides:

Physics with Applications: by Giancoli, (Phys1020 level)

An interactive website with exercises, "Physlets", and automatically gradable questions. EXCELLENT for self-testing.

Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Giancoli, (Phys1050 level)

An interactive website with exercises, "Physlets", and automatically gradable questions. EXCELLENT for self-testing. From textbook publisher, Prentice Hall.

Cutnell & Johnson: Physics (Phys1020 level)

Another textbook website - publisher Wiley - with more online gradable multiple-choice tests.

The Feynman Lectures

The Messenger Lectures, given by Nobel laureate Richard Feynman at Cornell University in 1964. Seven lectures covering most physics topics, restored and enhanced with notes and links. Probably the most influential physics lecture series in the 20th century! He was a gifted speaker who conveyed, with humour and clarity, the beauty and power of physics as well as the wonder of nature. Well worth your time!

Physics Tutorials

From the University of Guelph. Self-help with basic topics such as algebra, graphing for physics, and free-body diagrams. Plus torques, simple harmonic motion, DC circuits, etc.

Astronomy - Physics - Geophysics - Spaceflight Educational Site

Contains "From Stargazers to Starships", "The Great Magnet, the Earth", "The Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere" written for non-scientists, students and teachers by Dr. David Stern, a retired professor and researcher at Goddard Spaceflight Center. He uses space as a way of introducing physics. Great resource!

The Contemporary Physics Education Project

Four interactive tutorials for introductory physics students about particle physics: Fundamental Particles, Plasma Physics & Fusion, Nuclear Science, and the newest - The History and Fate of the Universe!

The Particle Adventure the fundamentals of matter and force - The Particle Data Group of Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory presents an award-winning interactive tour of quarks, neutrinos, antimatter, extra dimensions, dark matter, accelerators and particle detectors. Check it out!

Hands-On CERN presented by researchers of the European particle accelerator group to increase understanding of the most fundamental processes inside matter, and to explain modern research about particle collisions.

Einstein Light

An award-winning interactive web site from the University of New South Wales in Australia, which claims to explain the finer points of relativity in about 5 minutes! However, there are plenty of opportunities to delve deeper into an understanding of Einstein's most famous work.

Physics Fun:

Annals of Improbable Research (HotAIR)

Look here for the infamous Ig Nobel Prizes, the skeptical journal itself, and other fun stuff.

Cartoon Laws of Physics

Cartoon cats and ducks do obey (their own) laws of physics, and here's a hilarious list of them. (Newton would turn over in his grave!)

Flanders and Swan's "Laws of Thermodynamics"

Two famous British entertainers hilarious musical skit about the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics. "Heat won't pass from a cooler to a hotter, You can try it if you like but you far better notter..."

Confused about the Large Hadron Collider and what it will mean for physics? This will explain it all!

Movie Physics Rating System

A discussion of some recent movies and many of the blatantly awful mistakes Hollywood makes with the laws of physics!

Phun a 2D simulation "sandbox" to explore motion and play with physics like never before. Children, students, engineers, artists, university professors, and many others, use Phun for telling stories, learning, constructing amazing machines, creating games - or just for the plain fun of it.

Physics Joke of the Week

Physics Limerick Contest

Ever wonder what upper year physics students do in their spare time? Why write physics limericks, of course! Here are the finalists of the American Physical Society's contest.

Physics Songs

And for those who REALLY have time on their hands - songs! Songs about physics & astronomy. Learn while being entertained. Also contains lyrics of a ditty written by James Maxwell for his own classes.

The Physics Student's Prayer

Quark Dance! Finally the secret of quark interaction is revealed....quarks polka!??

Science Humour Web Ring

The Science humour web-ring is a ring dedicated to humour about science or scientists. This includes all kind of sciences, physical or social.

Also check out the Astronomy links on this site.

Last update: 10 February, 2012

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