PIRSA:21100053

A New View of the Universe from the Earth’s South Pole

Kurahashi Neilson, N. (2021). A New View of the Universe from the Earth’s South Pole. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/21100053

Kurahashi Neilson, Naoko. A New View of the Universe from the Earth’s South Pole. Perimeter Institute, Oct. 06, 2021, https://pirsa.org/21100053 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:21100053,
            doi = {10.48660/21100053},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/21100053},
            author = {Kurahashi Neilson, Naoko},
            keywords = {Particle Physics},
            language = {en},
            title = {A New View of the Universe from the Earth{\textquoteright}s South Pole},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2021},
            month = {oct},
            note = {PIRSA:21100053 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Naoko Kurahashi Neilson

Drexel University

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PIRSA:21100053
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Talk Type
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Abstract

The universe has been studied using light since the dawn of astronomy.  

But deep down in the dark glacial ice of the South Pole, Antarctica, a very different kind of telescope is getting a new view of the universe. Operated by a team of more than 300 physicists from 12 countries, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory captures the universe in high-energy neutrinos.  

Neutrinos are particles a lot like light (photons), but with one remarkable property that makes them a powerful medium for studying the universe. Physicist Naoko Kurahashi Neilson has travelled to the snow-swept IceCube Neutrino Observatory to study these elusive particles. In her October 6 Perimeter Public Lecture webcast, she will share more about the insights neutrinos can offer and what it’s like conducting research in one of the least habitable places on Earth.

Kurahashi Neilson is an associate professor at Drexel University and the recipient of a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. Symmetry magazine featured her among 10 early-career experimentalists of note in 2019.

After her undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley, Kurahashi Neilson obtained her PhD at Stanford University while “listening” for extremely high-energy neutrinos in the ocean in the Bahamas. She now lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and three young children, and is devoted to STEM outreach, particularly aimed at middle- and high-school girls.