Francis Halzen wins the Nobel Prize in Physics for detecting cosmic neutrinos

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics to Belgian-born Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin–Madison for the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin and his contribution to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a cubic kilometer of light sensors in the ice at the South Pole. The prize is worth 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million.