Francis Halzen wins physics Nobel for IceCube
Nobel prize in physics goes to Francis Halzen for south pole work on neutrinos
Tuesday, 6 October 2026
Warm-up
- What space discoveries have interested you recently?
- What extreme places are good for science? Why?
- How do scientists detect things they cannot see directly?
Vocabulary
- observatory
- A place with instruments used to watch and measure natural events
- neutrino
- A tiny particle from space that passes through matter almost unnoticed
- detector
- A device that finds or measures something that is hard to see
- embed
- To fix something firmly inside another material
- collision
- When two things hit each other
- astronomy
- The study of space, stars and the universe
- vibration
- A small, fast movement that can shake or disturb equipment
- proposal
- A formal plan that asks for approval or support
Reading
Prof Francis Halzen has won the 2026 Nobel prize in physics for turning deep, clear ice at the South Pole into a neutrino observatory. The Belgian particle physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison led IceCube, which made the first detection of high-energy neutrinos from space in 2013. He receives 12m Swedish kronor. The Nobel committee said he made decisive contributions to IceCube and to finding high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.
To build IceCube, teams embedded thousands of basketball-sized light detectors into a cubic kilometre of Antarctic ice. When a rare neutrino collision happens, the sensors catch a faint flash. Those events confirmed in 2013 opened a path to neutrino astronomy.
The site at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is harsh for people but ideal for science: the ice is clear, and it is far from sources of interference and the risk of vibrations from earthquakes. Using neutrinos adds a new window to earlier methods based on light, other electromagnetic waves, and gravitational waves.
Halzen, who heard the news while travelling in Italy, said he is working on a new proposal and hopes the award will help it move forward. Other major neutrino efforts include the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment in the US and the Hyper-Kamiokande detector in Japan.
Comprehension
- What prize did Francis Halzen win in 2026?
- Where is the IceCube observatory located?
- What did IceCube first detect in 2013?
- How is IceCube built to observe neutrinos?
- What does Halzen hope the prize will support next?
Grammar focus
Adding emphasis - cleft sentences
Use clefts to highlight information. Forms: It + be + X + that/who + clause; and What + clause + be + X. Use who for people and that for things/places. (Examples constructed.)
- It was the South Pole that enabled the IceCube design.
- What IceCube did was trace distant neutrinos.
Grammar exercise
Circle the correct option in each sentence.
- It was the clear ice (what / that) made detection possible.
- It was Halzen (which / who) led the project.
- It was the detectors (that / who) caught flashes.
- What they needed (was / were) clear ice.
- It was in 2013 (what / that) results were confirmed.
Discussion
- Why build an observatory at the South Pole? What are the pros and cons?
- How might neutrino astronomy change our view of the universe?
- Should huge science projects receive public funding? Why or why not?
- Which fact in this story surprised you most, and why?
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