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Science FAQ

Answers to common questions about neutrinos, dark energy, NASA's newest space telescope and the Nobel Prize, linked to our science coverage. For the latest stories, see our Science section.

What gives off neutrinos?

Neutrinos are produced wherever atomic nuclei change. Fusion in the Sun sends trillions through every person each second. Nuclear reactors, radioactive decay in rocks and living things, exploding stars and cosmic rays striking the atmosphere also make them. The highest-energy neutrinos come from distant cosmic sources, first identified in 2013 by the IceCube detector at the South Pole.

Source: Wikipedia. Our coverage: Physics Nobel Goes to Francis Halzen, Who Turned Antarctic Ice Into a Neutrino Telescope

Who discovered the neutrinos?

Physicist Wolfgang Pauli proposed the neutrino in 1930 to explain energy missing from radioactive decay, and Enrico Fermi gave it its name. Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines first detected neutrinos in 1956 at the Savannah River nuclear reactor in South Carolina, work that earned Reines the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 2026 Francis Halzen won the physics Nobel for IceCube's neutrino discoveries.

Source: Wikipedia. Our coverage: Physics Nobel Goes to Francis Halzen, Who Turned Antarctic Ice Into a Neutrino Telescope

What happens if a neutrino hits me?

Nothing you could notice. Roughly 100 trillion neutrinos from the Sun pass through your body every second, almost all without touching a single atom, because neutrinos interact only through the weak nuclear force and gravity. Over an entire lifetime, perhaps one will collide with an atom in your body, and it carries far too little energy to cause harm.

Source: Wikipedia. Our coverage: Physics Nobel Goes to Francis Halzen, Who Turned Antarctic Ice Into a Neutrino Telescope

What is the difference between a neutrino and an anti neutrino?

An antineutrino is the antimatter partner of a neutrino. Neutrinos are released in processes such as fusion in the Sun, while antineutrinos come from processes such as beta decay in nuclear reactors. They carry opposite lepton number and, in experiments, opposite handedness. Physicists are still testing whether the two could be the same particle, a possibility known as a Majorana neutrino.

Source: Wikipedia. Our coverage: Physics Nobel Goes to Francis Halzen, Who Turned Antarctic Ice Into a Neutrino Telescope

Do bananas have neutrinos?

Bananas do not store neutrinos, but they do emit antineutrinos. Bananas are rich in potassium, and a tiny fraction of natural potassium is radioactive potassium-40, which releases an antineutrino each time an atom decays. The same is true of the human body, which contains potassium too. The radiation involved is far too small to pose any health risk.

Source: Wikipedia

What is dark energy in simple terms?

Dark energy is the name scientists give to whatever is making the expansion of the universe speed up. It has never been observed directly; astronomers infer it from how fast distant supernovae and galaxies are moving apart. It appears to make up about 68 percent of the universe's total energy. NASA's Roman Space Telescope, launched in 2026, is designed to measure its effects.

Source: NASA. Our coverage: NASA's Roman Space Telescope Lifts Off to Map Dark Energy and Distant Worlds

Did Einstein believe in dark energy?

Not by that name. In 1917 Albert Einstein added a "cosmological constant" to his general relativity equations to keep the universe static, then dropped it after Edwin Hubble showed the universe is expanding. Dark energy was discovered in 1998, when two teams found the expansion is accelerating, and Einstein's cosmological constant is now a leading explanation for it.

Source: Wikipedia. Our coverage: NASA's Roman Space Telescope Lifts Off to Map Dark Energy and Distant Worlds

Where is the Roman Telescope going?

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is headed to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, called L2, about a million miles from Earth on the side facing away from the Sun. The James Webb Space Telescope also operates in that region. After its launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy in late August 2026, the trip was expected to take about three months.

Source: NASA. Our coverage: NASA's Roman Space Telescope Lifts Off to Map Dark Energy and Distant Worlds

What are the key differences between the James Webb Space Telescope and the Roman Space Telescope?

Webb is built for depth: its 6.5-meter mirror stares at small patches of sky to study extremely faint, distant objects in infrared light. Roman is built for breadth: its 2.4-meter mirror, the same size as Hubble's, feeds a 300-megapixel camera with a field of view about 100 times larger than Hubble's. NASA says Roman can survey the sky a thousand times faster than Hubble.

Source: NASA. Our coverage: NASA's Roman Space Telescope Lifts Off to Map Dark Energy and Distant Worlds

How much is a Nobel Prize in Physics?

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics carries an award of 12 million Swedish kronor, worth more than $1 million at recent exchange rates. Laureates also receive a gold medal and a diploma at the award ceremony in Stockholm each December. When a prize is shared, the money is divided among the winners. Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison won the 2026 prize.

Source: The Nobel Prize. Our coverage: Physics Nobel Goes to Francis Halzen, Who Turned Antarctic Ice Into a Neutrino Telescope

How does one get nominated for Nobel Prize?

You cannot nominate yourself. For physics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences invites qualified nominators, including academy members, past laureates and selected university professors, to submit candidates by January 31. The Nobel Committee for Physics reviews the nominees and the academy votes in October. Nominations stay secret for 50 years.

Source: The Nobel Prize. Our coverage: Physics Nobel Goes to Francis Halzen, Who Turned Antarctic Ice Into a Neutrino Telescope

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