Public talk: Catching Ghosts in the Ice 24 Oct
Public talk about the Nobel prize in Physics 2026.
About this event
Catching Ghosts in the Ice: The Hunt for Cosmic Neutrinos
Every second, billions of neutrinos pass through your body without you noticing. These tiny particles come from the Sun and from deep space, and they can travel straight through the whole Earth. That is why they are called “ghost particles”.
Their ghostly nature is also what makes them so valuable. Nothing stops them and nothing bends their path. A neutrino that reaches us carries news, straight and unchanged, from some of the most extreme places in the universe.
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics went to Francis Halzen for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory: a cubic kilometre of ice deep beneath the South Pole, turned into a giant detector. IceCube caught the first high-energy neutrinos from far beyond our Galaxy.
So where do they come from? The suspects include the violent surroundings of giant black holes at the hearts of distant galaxies, some of which fire powerful jets straight towards us, along with exploding stars and our own Milky Way. A few have been caught. Most are still unknown.
Venue
Naval Hill, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Refund policy
Following receipt of your booking cancellation or returned tickets, we will refund you the face value paid for the relevant tickets (or, if a discounted ticket, then instead the discounted ticket price paid), provided that reasonable cancellation charges as determined by the Event Organiser may be charged and deducted from such refund. Unless otherwise stipulated by the Event Organiser and depending on the prevailing circumstances the following cancellation charges may apply: - If the cancellation occurs more than 30 days prior to the event a 15% cancellation fee will apply; - If the cancellation occurs less than 30 but more than 7 days prior to the event a 50% cancellation fee will apply; - If the cancellation occurs less than 7 days prior to the event a 100% cancellation fee will apply; - Notwithstanding the aforesaid, if you can provide us with suitable documentary proof that a person in whose name a ticket was booked will not be able to attend the event because of his/her death and/or hospitalisation, no cancellation fee will apply in respect of the cancellation of such person's ticket.
Parking
Parking available at the venue.