[♪ INTRO]
Wow, it sure was cold on our hike today!
[Squeaks squeaks]
It was definitely cold, Squeaks, but I doubt it was the coldest place on Earth.
I can think of a few places that are even colder… like Antarctica!
Down there, it’s super cold all the time.
Oh!
And that reminds me!
I haven’t had a chance to watch the video message
from my friend Ariel Waldman.
She actually went to Antarctica, and sent me a message all about it.
Do you want to watch it with me, Squeaks?
[Squeaks is in!]
Awesome!
Let’s check it out!
Hi, Mister Brown!
I’m so excited to tell you all about my trip to Antarctica!
It’s such a special place — and not just because the South Pole is there.
It’s the coldest, driest, and highest up continent on Earth!
In fact, most of it’s actually a desert because it gets so little rain.
Now, when you think of a desert, you probably think of a place
that’s really hot and sandy.
But scientists actually consider anywhere that’s super dry to be a ‘desert’!
And with Antarctica, the lack of water is because it’s so cold.
In winter, the average temperature is around negative 60 degrees Celsius!
It’s why it’s covered with snow and ice year round.
You might be wondering why I wanted to go to such a cold and dry place.
Well: I wanted to check out what lives there!
Sure, there are penguins.
But there’s a lot of other life
in Antarctica — life that most people don’t know about
because it’s super small.
Living in and below the ice are tons of teeny living things
that we call extremophiles.
An extremophile is a critter that thrives in a really extreme environment
— like, one that’s really dry and really, really cold.
What’s really neat about extremophiles to me is that they could
give us clues to what life might look like on other worlds,
since most of the other planets we know about
also are known to have extreme environments.
So I wanted to see what’s actually living below Antarctica’s ice,
and show off these amazing critters to everyone else!
I spent a little while getting really good at using microscopes
and video cameras, planned my trip, and then headed southwards.
The nearest airport to the part of Antarctica that I was going to
was at least a five-hour flight away.
And they don’t exactly have shopping malls in Antarctica.
So I needed to make sure I had everything I needed with me!
I packed lots of warm socks and the type of clothes that help you
stay dry when you sweat.
Because, yeah, even though it’s really cold in Antarctica,
you can still work up a sweat hiking across the ice and snow there.
I made sure to also bring some moisturizer with me so my skin didn’t dry out.
In my first couple of days there, I got to do some really cool things.
Like, I got to actually go in the ocean underneath the ice
that surrounds the land!
I didn’t go for a swim, of course.
The water is way too cold there!
So I actually climbed into this metal structure called the ObTube.
When you’re inside, it’s kind of like being in a submarine!
You’re surrounded by all these windows that allow you to actually
be able to see out, and see what’s happening in the water all around you.
Basically, you get to experience the world below the ice
like all the creatures in the water do!
There was so much life wiggling about!
And I heard these weird sounds that sounded like they belonged in a movie.
Turns out, they were actually the calls of seals!
It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.
But what I really wanted to see was what was living in
and under the ice on land.
So I hiked out to one of Antarctica’s glaciers to collect samples.
Glaciers are these huge blocks of ice, and snow, and rocks
that don’t melt in the summer.
So I was able to collect chunks of one and bring it back into the lab
to look and see what was inside it.
And there were so many amazing living creatures!
One of my favorites were the tardigrades.
These are tiny animals also called “water bears” or “moss piglets”
because you can find them anywhere it’s wet,
including in the water trapped by mosses.
They basically look like tiny little gummy bears with claws!
What’s really cool about them though is that
they’re practically indestructible.
They can survive in extreme conditions that other critters
wouldn’t be able to, like tons of sun, or very little water!
I think the thing that surprised me the most were the diatoms.
They’re related to plants, but they’re technically algae
—so they’re closer to the seaweed that wraps around your
favorite sushi, instead of being, perhaps, your favorite vegetable.
And they live inside these beautiful glass houses
that they make for themselves.
And you can find them in water all over the world, but the ones
I found had really neat shapes!
The ones I saw looked like perfect little triangles!
I had never seen diatoms like that before.
Oh, and I can’t forget about the Spirulina!
They’re a type of bacteria, but not the type of bacteria
that makes you sick.
They’re what’s called cyanobacteria.
That’s because they often look blue to us, and cyan means blue!
They were so cool because they looked like moving confetti —
kind of like a party underneath the ice!
Sadly, I couldn’t stay at this party forever.
After five weeks in Antarctica, I had to pack up and go home!
But I made a fun website with all the amazing creatures that I found.
You can check it out, too, at lifeundertheice.org!
I’m really hoping I can come visit you all at The Fort sometime soon.
Until then—farewell!
And stay warm!
Wow, what an amazing adventure!
[Squeaks squeaks]
Me too, Squeaks!
It’d be awesome to visit Antarctica someday.
[Squeaks squeaks]
You’re right, Squeaks!
We don’t need to go to Antarctica to find snow and ice —
we trudged through a whole bunch of it earlier today.
So we could collect some and see what’s living in it
with our microscope!
Squeaks and I are going to go look for amazing extremophiles
living in our wintery world.
Then, we’ll probably watch more videos of Ariel’s Antarctic trip.
You can find the link to her Antarctica YouTube playlist
in the description if you and a grown up want to check them out, too.
We hope to see you next time here at The Fort!
[♪ OUTRO]