The IceCube observatory at the South Pole is a vast array of 5160 sensors, buried more than 1.5km below the surface of the ice sheet. Today, the observatory won the Nobel Prize in Physics Originally published 2023

Nobel winner Francis Halzen said the prize 'was not a motivation,' speaking of his IceCube observatory, which uses Antarctic ice to track 'ghost particles' called neutrinos

Belgian particle physicist Francis Halzen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to astronomy and his work on the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.” More to follow.

This Halloween, take five minutes to learn about ‘ghostly messengers’ from the cosmos. Francis Halzen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, detecting the spooky particles. Learn more:

Awesome day at @moreheadstate alongside @RepHalRogers and NASA astronaut Steve Bowen! We met with students and saw firsthand the university’s contributions to lunar exploration, from developing Lunar IceCube to supporting the Odysseus lunar lander through its 21-meter ground station. The talent and capabilities here in eastern Kentucky will help carry Artemis forward. We also had the honor of presenting Congressman Rogers with a Kentucky flag flown around the Moon aboard Artemis II, a reminder of what American ingenuity can achieve and the work still ahead of us. The future of American space exploration is being built across the country, and Kentucky has an important role to play.

"The most interesting things we're doing now, we didn't think of when it was proposed," said Francis Halzen, today's winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, when the IceCube Neutrino Observatory was completed in 2011

Neutrinos are everywhere, but they do not make themselves known. They pass all the way through the Earth and through our bodies without us noticing. This year’s physics laureate Francis Halzen realised that ice at the South Pole could be used to track these secretive particles. His vision, first presented in the late 1980s, led to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, that covers an entire cubic kilometre and was finished in 2011. Researchers soon discovered the first high-energy neutrinos and, a few years later, could publish their discovery of neutrinos that must originate far outside our solar system. “By detecting these neutrinos, we can learn something about cosmic sources which otherwise would not be accessible to us,” said Mark Pearce, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics. Listen to him explain more about the 2026 physics prize:

“Without understanding neutrinos, we’ll never understand the universe.” Physics laureate Francis Halzen has laid the foundation for a new type of astronomy. His idea was to use naturally occurring ice, rather than water, to capture the secretive elementary particles called neutrinos. The result was the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, which can track neutrinos that originate in the distant cosmos. So, why is it interesting to capture neutrinos? These elusive particles carry with them information about their sources. Since neutrinos have no electrical charge, they’re not deflected by the magnetic field between the earth and their distant cosmic sources. When these particles are detected and captured, we can learn more about where they are produced, for example the environment around a black hole. This knowledge about cosmic sources would otherwise not be accessible to us. When a neutrino collides with an atomic nucleus, a charged particle can be produced which emits a blue light. This flash of light can be tracked by sensors in the clear glacial ice of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The South Pole’s ice has many advantages, as it is free from various types of interference and the area is geologically stable, with no earthquakes. Still, it was not an easy project. During the press conference, Francis Halzen commented on this: ”When I reflect on this at this moment, I have to emphasise how lucky I was. Because when we started this project, everybody realised it was a good idea, but very few thought it would work, including myself. This was kind of an adventure where success was not guaranteed. We were lucky to overcome the various challenges, partly because the talent of our collaborators and partly because of luck. It was a long journey but it finally worked.” Learn more at