Francis Halzen has been awarded the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for his pivotal contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and his groundbreaking discovery of high-energy neutrinos originating from space. Mark Pearce, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, praised Halzen in a news release for leading an international team of researchers and engineers to build a fantastic instrument, noting that his tenacity and scientific vision have paved the way for a brand-new kind of astronomy. Halzen, who was born in Belgium and is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the U.S., spoke to the committee by phone from Italy after learning of the honor. The 82-year-old scientist admitted the announcement came as a great surprise and made him feel strange, even though winning the prestigious award had been predicted before. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, with the University of Wisconsin–Madison serving as its lead institution, is a major research facility situated at the South Pole in Antarctica. Neutrinos are tiny cosmic particles possessing an extraordinarily small mass, yet they are ubiquitous in the universe, spewing from stars like the sun while trillions zip through human bodies every second. Because these mysterious ghost particles cannot be seen directly zooming through space, scientists must measure the outcomes when they collide with other matter, creating flashes of light or charged particles. Halzen specifically focused on a rare group of neutrinos considered cosmic messengers, which provide vital clues regarding the evolution of the universe. His scientific efforts to capture these elusive particles at the South Pole trace back to the 1980s. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences officially announced the award in Stockholm, highlighting this year’s prize money of 12 million Swedish kronor, which amounts to approximately $1.2 million. The annual Nobel announcements began on Monday with the medicine prize awarded to three scientists for developing a light-based tool to study brain function. The scientific announcements continue with the chemistry prize on Wednesday, followed by literature on Thursday, the peace prize on Friday, and the economics prize concluding the announcements on Monday.
Source: npr.org
