The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded today to a man with a dream. Francis Halzen at the University of Wisconsin-Madison wanted to build an observatory under Antarctica. And as he told the Nobel committee, in the beginning, there were a lot of skeptics.
University of Wisconsin-Madison physics professor Francis Halzen won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics on Oct. 6 for his contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.
Halzen is the principal investigator at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, where he and the IceCube team study neutrinos — massless, chargeless particles that travel through the universe and give insight into the deepest cosmos.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Francis Halzen, principal investigator of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Nobel Prize in physics on Oct. 6, 2026. Halzen’s work on high-energy neutrinos has shaped our understanding of the universe’s mysterious and powerful natural particle accelerators.
On October 6, the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Francis Halzen, a theoretical physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for his role in developing a massive observatory to detect ghostly cosmic particles called high-energy neutrinos.
These electrically neutral and nearly massless particles constantly whiz through space, although they seldom interact with ordinary matter, which makes up stuff we can see like planets and people. In fact, roughly 100 trillion zip through your body per second. Neutrinos with low energies are produced by everyday astrophysical phenomena, such as nuclear fusion in the sun.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s new College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence may be the system’s most visible and ambitious investment in the evolving field — but it is far from the only one.
Over the past handful of years, campuses across the Universities of Wisconsin have been developing ways for students to understand, responsibly use and navigate the evolving world of AI. From AI literacy to new academic majors, the approach varies, reflecting each university’s academic strengths and priorities.
Madison police said Tuesday they closed investigations into possible druggings and a sexual assault tied to off-campus fraternity houses.
UW-Madison officials said last week that a victim reported being drugged and fondled at two different fraternity houses overnight between Sept. 26-27. Another victim reported being drugged at a fraternity house on Sept. 17 then sexually assaulted at a residence hall.
TIME spoke to Nick Syrett, author of The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities and chair and professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the case, what makes fraternities different, and why they have proved so hard to rein in.
