Kathmandu, October 6
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics to scientist Francis Halzen.
Halzen was awarded the prize for establishing the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and detecting high-energy neutrino particles from space.
Halzen developed the concept of using ice at the South Pole to track neutrino particles. He first proposed the idea in 1988.
Neutrinos are found throughout the universe. These particles can easily pass through the Earth and the human body. Only occasionally do neutrinos collide with an atomic nucleus.
When a neutrino collides with an atomic nucleus, sensors placed in clear ice record the flash of light produced by the interaction. Based on this principle, the IceCube Observatory, covering an area of one cubic kilometre, was built at the South Pole in 2011.
