The physicist who turned a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice into a telescope says the most exciting moment of his career was not the discovery. It was the first atmospheric neutrino. Before that, he was deep in debt to NSF and his own university with no neutrino to show for it.Francis Halzen is principal investigator of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole and Hilldale and Gregory Breit Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.We cover: why ice under the South Pole is clearer than anything a lab can make, the 2,600 TeV event that dwarfs the LHC, why IceCube sees more energy in cosmic neutrinos than in gamma rays, how neutrinos crossing the universe test quantum gravity, and the quark he refused to believe in.Physics is a miserable career unless you are obsessed by it.Recorded in 2022, before IceCube detected neutrinos from our own galaxy.Learn from Nobel Prize winners, and you could win a meteorite: Please join my mailing list here 👉 briankeating.com/xChapters📺 Watch my most popular videos:Neil Turok Believes Physics Is In CrisisNobel Prizewinner Frank WilczekStephen Wolfram vs. Eric WeinsteinSir Roger Penrose: Nobel Prize in Physics, Black Holes and MoreNoam Chomsky: Consciousness, Elon Musk, and MoreSabine HossenfelderAvi Loeb: UFOs and UAPsNeil deGrasse TysonFollow me to ask questions of my guests:🏄‍♂️ Twitter: @DrBrianKeating📝 Mailing list: briankeating.com/mailing_list✍️ Detailed blog posts: briankeating.com/blog🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: briankeating.com/podcastA production of imagination.ucsd.eduExecutive Producer: Brian KeatingProducer P.G.A: Stuart VolkowEditing: Lucas ScheiblichLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices