---
title: "100 Billion per Second: US Physicist Reveals New Details About Neutrinos Awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize"
description: "American physicist George Fuller has revealed new details about neutrinos — the particles for whose study the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded. He explained how they help study the early universe."
date: 2026-10-31T18:15:51.897Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/us-physicist-reveals-details-neutrinos-nobel-2026
tags: [neutrinos, nobel-prize-2026, physics, icecube, antarctica]
author: "Alexander Buran"
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# 100 Billion per Second: US Physicist Reveals New Details About Neutrinos Awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize

![Antarctic scientific station IceCube in a snowy desert under the sunset sky](https://xab.info/media/2026/10/31/uchenyie-raskryli-novye-detali-o-neitrino-nobelevskaia-premiia-2026/uchenyie-raskryli-novye-detali-o-neitrino-nobelevskaia-premiia-2026-1.webp)

## Key Points

- The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for neutrino research; new details were revealed by physicist George Fuller (University of California, San Diego).
- About 100 billion neutrinos pass through every square centimeter of the human body every second; there is approximately one billion such particles for every atom in the universe.
- Detection is carried out via the IceCube detector in Antarctica (Cherenkov radiation in ice) and the Simons Observatory in the Atacama Desert; the research opens a window into the early universe.

In 2026, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for research into neutrinos — the so-called 'ghost particles'. American physicist George Fuller from the University of California, San Diego, has revealed new details about these elements and explained how they can help unlock the universe's greatest mysteries, RBC-Ukraine reports citing the university.

### Why Neutrinos Are Called 'Ghosts'

Neutrinos are fundamental particles that do not decay into smaller elements and practically do not interact with matter. Thanks to their weak interaction, they pass effortlessly through any obstacles, including light-years of lead, and burst out from the most extreme conditions — the epicenters of stellar explosions and the vicinities of black holes. Their movement speed is close to the speed of light, allowing them to cover colossal distances across space.

### Scale: How Many Neutrinos Surround Us

According to scientists' estimates, about 100 billion neutrinos pass through every square centimeter of the human body every second. For every atom in the universe, there are approximately one billion such particles. Depending on their energy level, they are capable of passing through a layer of lead light-years thick while remaining virtually unnoticeable to surrounding structures.

### From Pauli's Hypothesis to the IceCube Detector

The existence of neutrinos was first predicted by Wolfgang Pauli in the 1930s, but they were not experimentally confirmed until 1956 as part of Project Poltergeist. Today, the world's largest detector, IceCube, located in Antarctica, is used to detect them. It consists of thousands of light sensors submerged in a cubic kilometer of ice: when high-energy neutrinos collide with the ice, pale flashes of blue light occur — Cherenkov radiation. Meanwhile, the detector records only a few dozen ultra-powerful cosmic neutrinos per year.

### A New Window Into the Early Universe

Neutrino research opens up a new window for humanity to study the first moments after the Big Bang and the early universe. In addition to the Antarctic detector, ancient neutrinos are being studied by the Simons Observatory in the Atacama Desert, which investigates the cosmic microwave background. The combination of these data allows scientists to recreate a picture of the earliest stages of cosmic evolution.

## Fact-Check & Sources

- [Сквозь наше тело ежесекундно летят 100 миллиардов нейтрино: ученые объяснили, что это значит](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/kriz-nashe-tilo-shchosekundi-letyat-100-milyardiv-1793014935.html) - All numerical data (100 billion/cm²/s, ~1 billion per atom, 1930s Pauli, 1956 Poltergeist, IceCube, Cherenkov radiation, Simons Observatory) are taken from the original text without changes.

## FAQ

### What are neutrinos and why are they called 'ghost particles'?

Neutrinos are fundamental particles that do not decay into smaller elements and barely interact with matter, allowing them to pass freely through any obstacles, including light-years of lead.

### How many neutrinos pass through a human?

According to scientists' estimates, about 100 billion neutrinos pass through every square centimeter of the human body every second.

### How do scientists detect neutrinos?

Using the IceCube detector in Antarctica: thousands of light sensors are submerged in a cubic kilometer of ice, and when high-energy neutrinos collide, Cherenkov radiation occurs — pale flashes of blue light.

### Who first predicted the existence of neutrinos?

The existence of neutrinos was first predicted by Wolfgang Pauli in the 1930s; they were experimentally confirmed in 1956 in Project Poltergeist.