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A Telescope Made of Ice

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The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics went to a scientist who turned Antarctic ice into a giant detector for particles from space.

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A Telescope Made of Ice

On October 6, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm announced the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics. The prize went to Francis Halzen, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin in the United States. He was honoured for his work on the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and for discovering high-energy neutrinos that come from space.

Neutrinos are often called the shyest particles in the universe. They are everywhere, and about 65 billion of them from the Sun pass through your fingernail every second. They can travel straight through the Earth and through your body, yet they almost never leave a mark. Only very rarely does a single neutrino hit an atomic nucleus and produce a tiny flash of light that scientists can catch.

Halzen first suggested using Antarctic ice to find these particles back in 1988. At that time, many of his colleagues thought the idea was impossible. He argued that the ice at the South Pole is clear, pure and deep, so it makes a good natural detector. When a neutrino strikes an atomic nucleus, the ice gives off a weak light signal. If sensors are buried deep in the ice, they can record it. After many years of hard work, the IceCube observatory was finished in 2011. It uses about one cubic kilometre of Antarctic ice, with thousands of light sensors placed more than two kilometres below the surface.

The results soon followed. Researchers detected their first high-energy neutrinos, and a few years later they confirmed that some of them had come from outside our solar system. Neutrinos do not bend when they pass through magnetic fields, so they can carry information from distant places that ordinary telescopes cannot reach.

The head of the Nobel physics committee said that Halzen and his international team had opened a new window for astronomy. Halzen, who was born in Belgium in 1944, will receive 12 million Swedish kronor, about 8 million yuan. His story shows that a bold idea, kept alive for thirty years, can change the way we look at the sky.

Words to know:

长难句拆解 · 后置定语与让步从句

第一句：They can travel straight through the Earth and through your body, yet they almost never leave a mark. 主干是 They can travel through the Earth and through your body（它们能径直穿过地球和你的身体）。yet 是并列连词，表示转折，相当于 but，但语气更强，常译作「然而」。前后的两个分句都是完整句子，所以 yet 后面直接接主语 they。 直译：它们能径直穿过地球，也能穿过你的身体，然而它们几乎从不会留下痕迹。

第二句：When a neutrino strikes an atomic nucleus, the ice gives off a weak light signal. 这是主从复合句。When 引导时间状语从句（当中微子撞击原子核时），主句是 the ice gives off a weak light signal（冰会放出微弱的光信号）。give off 是固定搭配，意思是「发出（光、热、气味等）」。写作时可把这类「时间状语从句 + 主句」的结构用在说明过程的段落里。 直译：当中微子撞击一个原子核时，冰就会发出微弱的光信号。

同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器

雅思阅读的题干很少照抄原文，它更喜欢把同一个意思换一种说法。下面这些替换在本题材里很常见，先自己盖住右边，试着回忆。

  • go to sb. → be awarded to sb. / be given to sb.（奖项、荣誉的归属，常考被动改写）
  • be everywhere → exist in large numbers / be widespread（强调「到处都有」）
  • almost never leave a mark → hardly leave any trace（否定副词 + 名词的改写）
  • think the idea was impossible → consider the plan unrealistic（观点动词的同义替换）
  • be finished → be completed / be built（工程竣工的表达）
  • detect → find / discover / pick up（发现信号、粒子等）
  • open a new window for → create new possibilities for（比喻说法换平实说法）
阅读自测 · 3 题
  1. 判断正误：Francis Halzen won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics together with two other scientists.
  2. 简答：How long was it from Halzen’s first idea to the completion of the IceCube observatory?
  3. 选词填空：Neutrinos can pass through the Earth without leaving a ____. (A. mark B. price C. window)
参考答案与解析
  1. False（错误）。原文说 The prize went to Francis Halzen, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin，今年的物理学奖只颁给了哈尔岑一人。干扰项套路是「偷换结论」——把单独获奖改写成与他人共享，属于典型的无中生有。
  2. About 23 years（约 23 年）。1988 年他首次提出设想，2011 年冰立方建成，1988 到 2011 正好 23 年。注意这类题要把两个时间点都找出来再相减，只抄一个年份会答错。
  3. A. mark。原文是 they almost never leave a mark，属逐字对应。B、C 是利用文中出现过的 price／window 制造的形近干扰，做题时要以句意为准。
中文译文

10 月 6 日，瑞典皇家科学院在斯德哥尔摩宣布了 2026 年诺贝尔物理学奖。奖项授予美国威斯康星大学的科学家弗朗西斯·哈尔岑，以表彰他在冰立方中微子天文台方面的工作，以及发现来自太空的高能中微子。

中微子常被称为宇宙中最害羞的粒子。它们无处不在，每秒钟大约有 650 亿个来自太阳的中微子穿过你的指甲。它们能径直穿过地球，也能穿过你的身体，却几乎从不会留下痕迹。只有在极少见的情况下，单个中微子才会撞上一个原子核，并产生一小束科学家能够捕捉到的闪光。

早在 1988 年，哈尔岑就首次提出用南极的冰来寻找这些粒子。当时，许多同行都认为这个想法不可能实现。他认为，南极点的冰清澈、纯净且深厚，因而是一种很好的天然探测器。当中微子撞击原子核时，冰会发出微弱的光信号。如果把传感器深埋在冰层里，就能把它记录下来。经过多年艰苦工作，冰立方天文台于 2011 年建成。它使用了约一立方千米的南极冰，数千个光传感器被放置在冰面以下两千多米的地方。

成果很快随之而来。研究人员探测到了首批高能中微子，几年之后他们又确认，其中一些来自太阳系之外。中微子穿过磁场时不会发生偏转，因此它们能带回普通望远镜无法触及的遥远之地所携带的信息。

诺贝尔物理学委员会主席表示，哈尔岑和他的国际团队为天文学打开了一扇新的窗口。哈尔岑 1944 年出生于比利时，将获得 1200 万瑞典克朗奖金，约合 800 万元人民币。他的经历说明，一个被坚持了三十年的胆大设想，可以改变我们仰望天空的方式。