Physics and Astronomy Calendar

Forty years ago it was recognized that the detection of high energy (E > 10^11 eV) neutrinos from astronomical sources would require the construction of a device with 1 gigaton (or 1 cubic kilometer of water) of target material. This idea is finally becoming a reality with the construction, at the South Pole, of IceCube. Detection of extraterrestrial high energy neutrinos will open new avenues in astrophysics and neutrino physics. What is the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays? How do gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful objects in the universe, work? What is the origin of dark matter? These are just some of the questions that IceCube will help answer. In this talk I will present a summary of the construction status of IceCube, summarize the results of AMANDA, the predecessor (and now part) of IceCube, and present first results from IceCube.