Japanese physicist Koshiba, 2002 Nobel Prize laureate, dies at 94

Japanese scientist Masatoshi Koshiba, a co-winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in physics for his pioneering contribution in the field of astrophysics, has died, the University of Tokyo said Friday. He was 94.Koshiba, a distinguished professor at the university, confirmed the existence of cosmic neutrinos by devising and using a detector called Kamiokande, composed of photomultiplier tubes in a 3,000-ton cylindrical water tank placed 1,000 meters underground, in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan.He died Thursday night of natural causes, the university said.Koshiba was born on Sept. 19, 1926, in Aic…READ FULL ARTICLE