Nobel winners, neutrino detectors and nature’s longest-living tortoise

This week’s science news roundup unpacks the 2026 Nobel Prizes—from controlling brain cells with flashes of light to catching ghostly neutrinos from distant galaxies in Antarctic ice to building mirror-image molecules one at a time. Plus, we meet Jonathan, a 194-year-old tortoise whose DNA might hold the secret to a longer life.

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2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to pioneers in ‘mirror’ chemistry

2026 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Francis Halzen, pioneer of high-energy neutrinos

2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to scientists behind optogenetics

The oldest known land animal is 194. How did he get so ancient?

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Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck fact-checked our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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