Rhett Allain writes about the “fruit jello” of physics; a curious blend of healthy stuff mixed in a tasty and appealing concoction. IMHO he’s the Emeril Lagasse of Newtonian principles, and he uses movies, video games, and pop culture references instead of pots and pans. In the adulterated words of Mary Poppins, “Just a spoonful of his [physics sugar] will help the medicine go down.” The medicine just happens to be one of my least favorite science topics: Physics. However, Rhett is making me love physics just a little bit more because his topics are ever so interesting.

A professor at Southeastern Louisiana University and contributing writer for WIRED’s Science content, Rhett explores the physics of phenomena that people quickly overlook when traversing the Internet highway. Want to know what happens when a CD shatters? He has tried it and explains the science behind musical destruction at 23,000 RPM. Curious about the accuracy of the physics engine in Rovio’s Angry Birds games? So was Rhett. Is it physically possible for Marvel’s Black Widow character to move in the manner depicted in the trailer for The Avengers: Age of Ultron movie? Some video analysis using the freely available Tracker software provides clues about the impossibility of the filmmaker’s after effects magic.

Below are selected entries from the Dot Physics blog where Rhett Allain regularly writes. For additional information, check out his books Geek Physics: Surprising Answers to the Planet’s Most Interesting Questions and Angry Birds: Furious Forces. His Twitter account is also worth following (@rjallain).