First field season for IceCube Upgrade ongoing at the South Pole
A view of the seasonal equipment site from the first field season for the IceCube Upgrade. Image: Kurt Studt, IceCube/NSF
Successful testing of over 10,000 photomultiplier tubes for IceCube Upgrade digital optical modules
At the South Pole, the cubic-kilometer-sized IceCube Neutrino Observatory searches for high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. When a neutrino crashes into the ice, blue light is emitted and detected by some of IceCube’s 5,160 digital optical modules (DOMs) across 86 vertical cables (strings) embedded deep within the Antarctic ice. The [...]
Francis Halzen elected to National Academy of Sciences
University of Wisconsin–Madison physicist Francis Halzen has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences. Halzen is one of 120 scientists elected this year in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, according to the academy’s announcement of the new members this week. Election to the academy is among the highest honors that a scientist can receive. [...]
Week 17 at the Pole
When it’s really cold outside—like with temperatures approaching -100°F!—it’s nice to have lots of fun things going on indoors at the Pole. Sure, there was work, and IceCube winterovers Connor and Kalvin had plenty to do: multiple webcasts for the IceCube Masterclass, deployment testing for the latest data acquisition software [...]