Francis Halzen wins Nobel physics prize for Antarctic 'ghost particle' hunt - Reuters

The world’s largest glacier is melting much faster and could add twice as much to global sea levels as previously expected over the next century. New research published this week by a team of glaciologists has found that the Thwaites glacier in West Antarctica is losing mass rapidly because warm seawater is pushing underneath it and melting its core. This could add 1.2 inches (30mm) to water levels even if global warming does not accelerate as predicted. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4The Nepal floods question: When the Himalayas collapse, who gets warned?list 2 of 4India to supply Nepal electricity after floods wrecked hydropower projectslist 3 of 4El Nino reaches super status: Where will it bring rain, drought and heat?list 4 of 4‘The drought has left its mark’: Slovenia’s potato lovers lament low yieldsend of listThe findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, add to a growing body of evidence that shows that the glacier, which has been receding for decades, is now losing mass even faster than scientists thought. Researchers at the University of California in the United States collaborated with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the study.

This story is an update to the Antarctic sea ice feature in our World of Change series tracking long-term change on Earth's surface through satellite imagery. Unlike the Arctic—an ocean basin surrounded by land—the Antarctic is a large continent surrounded by an ocean. Because of this geography, sea ice has more room to expand during the winter. However, that ice also stretches into warmer latitudes, leading to more melting in the summer. Antarctic sea ice usually peaks in September, around the end of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter, and retreats to a minimum in February.

Belgian physicist worked to build Antarctic observatory that tracks neutrinos from deep space. Belgian 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 winner.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Belgian-born scientist Francis Halzen won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for his efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos, tiny cosmic particles that researchers believe offer clues to how the universe evolved. "It was a great surprise, and I obviously didn't expect it," Halzen said, speaking to the Nobel Physics Committee by phone from Italy, in a call broadcast at the news conference to announce the winner.