Francis Halzen wins Nobel Prize in physics for work on high-energy neutrinos from space

FILE - A Nobel diploma and medal are displayed, Dec. 8, 2020, during a ceremony in New York. Angela Weiss/Pool AFP via AP hide caption Angela Weiss/Pool AFP via AP STOCKHOLM — Francis Halzen won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for his contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and his discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. "Francis Halzen has led an international team of researchers and engineers who have provided us with a fantastic instrument. His tenacity and scientific vision has paved the way for a new kind of astronomy," Mark Pearce, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said in a news release. Halzen spoke to the committee by phone from Italy on Tuesday. "It was a great surprise and I obviously didn't expect it," he said. Halzen said it was predicted before that he would win the Nobel Prize but the announcement still made him feel "strange." Born in Belgium, the 82-year-old scientist is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the U.S. Efforts by The Associated Press to reach him were not immediately successful. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a research facility located at the South Pole in Antarctica, according to its...