Prof Neil Johnson

Neil is a professor of physics at George Washington University in Washington, DC. In 2016, he and his colleagues published a paper in the journal Science that used complex models to map the global network of extremist groups online, leading to what they describe as the ‘gelation’ theory of extremism.

How a “new kind of physics” could track down extremists online

When online extremist groups get broken up by the authorities, its members just regroup elsewhere. Here’s how one physics professor thinks we could end this game of digital whack-a-mole once and for all.