Francis Halzen wins Nobel Prize in Physics for work on ‘ghost particles’

Belgian physicist worked to build Antarctic observatory that tracks neutrinos from deep space.Published On 6 Oct 20266 Oct 2026Belgian physicist Francis Halzen has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for creating a giant detector in Antarctica that captures neutrinos, the so-called “ghost particles” from space that scientists believe offer clues to how the universe evolved.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the prestigious award in Stockholm on Tuesday, crediting Halzen with a central role in building the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Is there life on another planet? Scientists find the strongest evidence yetlist 2 of 3Have scientists discovered a dark matter particle?list 3 of 3Nobel medicine prize honours US and German scientists for optogenetics workend of listThe neutrino interactions collected by the observatory provide information about how high-energy neutrinos are created and may even reveal previously unknown phenomena, the Academy said.“It was a great surprise, and I obviously didn’t expect it,” Halzen said, speaking to the committee by phone from Italy, in a call broadcast at the news conference to announce the wi...