The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to scientist Francis Halzen on Tuesday.
He was honored for "crucial contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin," the academy announced.
The Nobel committee described neutrinos as "ghost messages from space."
This is the second Nobel Prize announced this week, following the Nobel Prize in Medicine, which was awarded to three scientists for their work in optogenetics, which has helped to understand how the brain works.
The amount of the Nobel Prize this year is 12 million Swedish kronor, about 1.2 million dollars or 1 million euros. The prize can be awarded to an individual, a small group of laureates or an organization.
The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded 119 times to 230 laureates during the period 1901-2025.
Last year, the prize was awarded to three scientists for their research into the unusual behavior of subatomic particles, known as quantum tunneling. This research contributed to ultra-sensitive measurements made by MRI machines, and laid the foundation for the development of more advanced mobile phones and faster computers.