In a remote land with no government or indigenous population, subzero temperatures, and minimal life, scientists are working to solve some of Earth's mysteries.
Explorers first arrived in Antarctica in the late 1800's and, today, scientists from more than 28 different nations come to Earth's coldest continent to conduct experiments that are not able to be reproduced in any other place in the world. In the summer more than 4,000 scientists operate research stations throughout several different communities and islands, but barely 1,000 stay through the winter.
Scientists from different fields come to Antarctica to search for new species, hints of pollution trapped in pristine ancient ice, leftovers from the Big Bang, and biological quirks that potentially could lead to better medical treatments and curbing climate change, according to the Associated Press. NASA uses the remoteness of the antarctic to study what people would have to go through if they visited Mars.
Because there is no local industry, any pollution captured in the pristine ice and snow is from chemicals that traveled from afar, such as low levels of lead found in ice until it was phased out of gasoline, or radiation levels found from above-ground nuclear tests thousands of miles away and decades ago by the U.S. and the Soviet Union, according to David Vaughan, science director of the British Antarctic Survey.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press