Tired of your problems?
Wanna run away from all the nervous hassle?
I’ve got just the place for you — a desert in the middle of the world’s largest ocean!
But don’t expect too much solitude because somebody’s already living there...
Point Nemo is the most remote place on our planet.
The name says it all — “Nemo” means “no one” in Latin.
In Disney, it means “Little Clown Fish”.
This loneliest of lonely spots is more than 1,600 miles from any coast.
Below: tens of thousands of feet of oceanic depths.
Above: endless skies.
...Or an unexpected neighbor?
More on that later.
For now, we need to get going — got a long journey ahead!
You book a flight and arrive in Chile.
Here on the coast of the South Pacific, you better enjoy your last day standing on solid
ground because tomorrow, you’ll get your sea legs!
It’ll be nothing but endless blue ocean for miles and miles.
Early in the morning, you climb aboard the ship.
Destination: these strange coordinates (48°52.6’S 123°23.6’W).
Grab your phone and enter them into your map — you won’t get a route.
Only an experienced captain can take you to this point and return you to land safely.
The captain informs you that you’re about to sail 5,000 miles.
This is the route (from Chile to New Zealand) researchers from the Max Planck Institute
for Marine Microbiology took in 2015.
Following the path of our greatest scientists, we set sail!
More than 2 weeks have passed since you boarded.
All this time, you’ve been floating on the blue surface of the Earth’s largest and
deepest ocean.
Forget about the Internet or cell service — books have become your new best friend.
Maybe Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island?
You can meet the captain this point was named after!
You can’t see the shore in any direction, even through your binoculars.
You’d think you were lost, but the captain knows what to do and calms you down.
You look at the map and realize you’ve finally arrived at the “oceanic pole of inaccessibility”
— Point Nemo.
A place that occupies 10% of the world’s oceans.
A place that’s called a “desert” because of the almost complete absence of life.
But it doesn’t look as bad and scary as it sounds.
Quite beautiful, in fact.
It could even be the cleanest place in the world’s oceans!
You’re enjoying the tranquility when your peace and quiet are cut short by a loud CRASH!
A huge spacecraft falls from the sky and smashes into the water!
Your jaw has hit the floor, but the captain looks totally unscathed.
“Just another falling satellite,” he explains nonchalantly.
Yes, Point Nemo is also called the Spacecraft Cemetery.
Space trash, cargo ships, and broken satellites fall here because it’s the safest place
on Earth to dump them.
Most satellites burn up in the atmosphere, but those that manage to “survive” fall
into the ocean and sink to the bottom.
But there’s another cool thing about space and this place.
Standing here on the loneliest spot on the planet, you’re actually much closer to astronauts
in the International Space Station than you are to any human on Earth!
The ISS orbits just 250 miles above the surface — I believe that’s a lot less than 1,600
-- if my math’s correct.
Researchers describe this place as the least biologically active region of the world’s
oceans.
That’s because nutrient-rich currents can’t reach it, so there’s nothing for life to
feed on.
It’s also too far away for winds to carry organic material here.
Despite all that, life has somehow found a way.
At a depth of 65 to 16,000 feet, researchers found bacteria that had been discovered earlier
in other parts of the ocean.
Granted, there was a third less than what’s usual for oceanic microbes, but life was still
thriving!
You see, there’s a line of underwater volcanoes near Point Nemo.
During an eruption, volcanoes release chemicals that bacteria feed on.
And more massive creatures, such as the Yeti Crab, feed on these microorganisms.
But just a couple decades ago, experts were sure that something a lot bigger than a crab
— or any other being on this planet! — lived deep under the surface...
In 1997, oceanographers recorded a mysterious underwater sound east of Point Nemo.
They called it “the bloop” and you can easily find recordings of it online.
This event led many to believe in the existence of a huge monster living in these isolated
oceanic depths!
But the mystic speculation didn’t last long, when the “bloop” was confirmed to be the
sound of ice.
You see, when a big-enough iceberg breaks and collapses, it generates massive low-frequency
sounds.
So, no monsters, sorry.
Point Nemo hasn’t been studied much, so there’s still a lot we don’t know.
Until researchers can shed more light on this most remote location, maybe you can check
out another place to get away from civilization?
After another 2 weeks of sailing, you finally dock in New Zealand.
From there, you fly to another incredible yet unfavorable place for life on Earth: the
Danakil Depression.
We first arrive in the city of Mek’ele, Ethiopia.
This is the last chance to enjoy all the conveniences of civilization.
From here, it’ll be endless deserts.
Before we head out, make sure you bring plenty of water, and wear light clothing — the
sun will scorch down on you.
Our journey passes through a small village of the local Afar people, one of the oldest
societies in the world.
They’re believed to descend from the Ancient Egyptians, and you can see some resemblance
in the traditional hairstyles.
People here must live completely self-sufficiently.
No restaurants or grocery stores, no running water, no lights, and definitely no gadgets.
The only thing connecting them with our world is the passing camel caravans.
Welcome to the hottest place on Earth!
The average temperature here hangs out at about 100°F, but it can get up to 140!
You’ll feel like you’re on another planet, I promise.
The ground you walk on contains most of the elements in the periodic table.
Colored salts, yellow sulfur, red iron, black manganese.
You could easily mistake this place for a Martian landscape...
The colors crunch beneath your footsteps.
Careful, though — everything is toxic here: lakes are filled with red, yellow, orange,
and brown acidic water.
There’s so much salt that it forms growths of bizarre shapes sticking out of the ground
and rocks.
Bubbling geysers with sulfuric acid are everywhere — don’t get too close!
Forget Mars — this looks like some far off distant planet from a sci-fi movie!
And, just like the remote Point Nemo, life has still managed to pop up in these extreme
conditions!
Well, almost...
A group of scientists collected ground samples and discovered an entirely new species of
bacteria!
These spherical microorganisms live in mineral salts.
The natural conditions of the Danakil region are similar to the conditions on Mars.
So, this discovery immediately gave hope that life can be discovered on the Red Planet too.
But the potentially ground-breaking news didn’t last long ...
French scientists found out that the bacteria probably appeared from laboratory contamination,
or they could’ve been brought into the Valley by tourists.
New studies were carried out, and scientists didn’t find any natural microbial life.
It’s possible that a more accurate molecular analysis can detect new microorganisms.
But until this happens, the Danakil Valley remains completely unsuitable for life.
And there go your hopes of settling down there forever to escape the rat race.
Eh, just snuggle up with a good book or relaxing music or hey, how about another Bright Side
video?
That should do the trick!