Halzen Wins Nobel for South Ice

A neutrino is an extremely light particle. Stars, including the Sun, release them, and trillions slip through each human body every second. Ghost particles almost never hit normal things, so they cross thick regions that light cannot easily penetrate. Magnetic forces do not bend the route, so the direction still points to a source. Halzen wrote this plan in 1988. IceCube fills one cubic kilometre of clear Antarctic ice, with thousands of light sensors deep in the sheet. When a neutrino strikes a nucleus, fast pieces shine blue. The blue light's shape and its arrival moment show the direction.

The prize surprised Halzen. A phone call from Italy was played at the news conference. He had not expected to win, and the news felt strange. He is writing a proposal and hopes the prize will help it pass. At the start, almost nobody, including Halzen, believed the plan would succeed. The award pays 12 million Swedish kronor, roughly 1.2 million dollars. Neutrino strength can show how exploding stars and space around giant places where light cannot leave push particles to extraordinary levels. Louis Barson, a science director in London, said IceCube shows events that normal machines cannot see.