{
  "id": 12355892,
  "title": "Auszeichnung: Physik-Nobelpreis an Geisterteilchen-Forscher aus den USA",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/auszeichnung-physik-nobelpreis-an-geisterteilchen-forscher-aus-den-usa",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-06T10:04:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/technik/forschung-innovation/auszeichnung-physik-nobelpreis-an-geisterteilchen-forscher-aus-den-usa/100260088.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen, an 82-year-old Belgian-American particle physicist, for his groundbreaking contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Mark Pearce, the Chair of the Physics Nobel Committee, praised Halzen's persistence and scientific vision, stating that his work has paved the way for a new type of astronomy. Halzen, who conducts research at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, recognized that the ice at the South Pole is ideal for tracking neutrinos, often referred to as ghost particles. His plans for the project were first presented in 1988, and his vision and leadership were crucial to the IceCube observatory, a cubic kilometer of ice equipped with sensors installed in 2011. This observatory enables scientists to detect neutrinos from highly energetic processes in the distant universe. Halzen led an international team of researchers and engineers, who have dubbed neutrinos as \"ghost messengers from space.\" Neutrinos are the most elusive elementary particles, with ten billion passing through each square centimeter of Earth's surface every second. However, they barely interact with ordinary matter. To detect these elusive particles, large quantities of pure materials that can react with neutrinos are required, such as water found in abundance in the ice of Antarctica. When a neutrino interacts with a water molecule, it produces electrically charged particles that travel almost at the speed of light through the ice, emitting light, known as the Cherenkov radiation. These particles are detected by IceCube, whose length is a kilometer. Over 5,000 light sensors have been lowered into the ice by the project's physicists. Not only can they capture Cherenkov light, but they can also determine the direction from which it comes, thus revealing the source of the neutrinos. The interactions detected by the device could provide insights into the origins of high-energy neutrinos and reveal previously unknown cosmic phenomena, according to the Nobel Committee. Currently based in Italy, Halzen expressed great joy at receiving the Nobel Prize, describing it as \"strange.\" He mentioned that he is working on a scientific proposal and hopes the prize will increase his chances of it being accepted. Born in Tienen, Belgium in 1944, Halzen earned his doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven in 1969. The most prestigious physics award, this year's Nobel Prize, is worth twelve million Swedish Kronor, equivalent to around one million euros. The prize money has recently been increased to twelve million Kronor by the Nobel Foundation. This is the first time in the foundation's 125-year history that the names of the physics, chemistry, and economics laureates will be announced by a woman. Ellen Moen, a Belgian-born researcher, has taken on the role of the new Secretary-General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which announces the Nobel Prizes annually in the three categories. She is the first woman to hold this position since the academy's founding in 1739. The Medicine Nobel was awarded on Monday to two German and one US-American researchers for their discoveries in the field of Optogenetics. Peter Hegemann of Humboldt University in Berlin, Georg Nagel of the University of Würzburg, and Karl Deisseroth from the US were honored for their work. Optogenetics is a method that allows cells to be precisely turned on and off using light, enabling researchers to study how neurons in the living brain shape memories, emotions, and behaviors.",
  "summary": "Am Montag sind die Nobelpreisträger für Medizin verkündet worden. Nun ist auch klar, wer den Physik-Nobelpreis erhält.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}