Which are the world’s favourite physics sites?

 The shortlist is now out for the inaugural physics.org 2010 web awards, a new set of awards which rewards the best physics-related content on the net aimed at a general audience.

 physics.org is a public outreach website produced by the Institute of Physics (IOP). The site’s mission is to make physics accessible to the general public and guide its visitors to the best physics on the web.

Following nominations from the public, the IOP has picked the top five contenders in  seven categories: Best blog, Best news site / online magazine, Best podcast, Best Q&A / ask the expert site, Best revision site, Best kids’ site and the President’s prize – sites which don’t fall under any of the categories above.

One winner from each category will be chosen by the public, using an online voting system available on physics.org.

Meanwhile, a second winner will be determined by a panel of judges which includes Adam Rutherford, editor at Nature, Jim Al-Khalili, a professor of physics and popular science author and TV presenter as well as Nate Lanxon, editor of wired.co.uk amongst others.

Shortlisted sites include Skeptical Science, a site which gets sceptic about climate scepticism. Equipped with their top 10 counter arguments to nay-sayer’s claims, you’ll never lose an argument in the pub again.

Also listed is Zooniverse, which includes a Galaxy Zoo allowing users to classify far flung galaxies, and Moon Zoo, where users are helping to produce a detailed map of the moon.

Public voting is open until Sunday 7 November 2010 and winners will be announced on Monday 15 November.