of a new kind of matter (the J particle) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The Nobel Prize was awarded to Ting for this discovery. Discovery of the gluon (the particle responsible for transmitting the nuclear force). A systematic study of the properties of gluons. A precision measurement of muon charge asymmetry, demonstrating for the first time the validity of the Standard Electroweak Model (Steven Weinberg, Sheldon Glashow and Abdus Salam). Determination of the number of electron families and neutrino species in the Universe and the precision verification of the Electroweak Unification Theory. Proposed, constructed and leads the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment on the International Space Station involving the participation of a 16 nation collaboration searching for the existence of antimatter, the origin of dark matter and the properties of cosmic rays. Development of the first large superconducting magnet for space application. AMS results, based on nine years in space and more than 160 billion cosmic rays, have changed our understanding of the cosmos. Honors and awards Major Awards Nobel Prize for Physics (1976) Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award (U.S. government) Eringen Medal (the Society of Engineering Science) DeGaspari Award in Science (Italian government) NASA Public Service Medal Erice Prize for Peace (World Federation of Scientists) Gold Medal for Science (Italy) Award for Compelling Results in Physical Sciences (2017, NASA) Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement Golden Leopard Award for Excellence, Taormina, Italy Member or Foreign Member of Scientific Academies United States National Academy of Sciences American Academy of Arts and Sciences Soviet Academy of Science Russian Academy of Sciences Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (Germany) Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences Hungarian Academy of Sciences Pakistan Academy of Sciences Academia Sinica Chinese Academy of Sciences Honorary Fellow of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Doctor Honoris Causa degrees University of Bologna Moscow State University University of Bucharest National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan) National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen University of Michigan Columbia University Gustavus Adolphus College University of Science and Technology of China Hong Kong University of Science and Technology National Central University Hong Kong Baptist University Chinese University of Hong Kong Personal life Ting lived in a turbulent age during his childhood and his family was a big influence on him. In his biographical for the Nobel Prize, he recalled: Since both my parents were working, I was brought up by my maternal grandmother.