- 1 day ago
Satellite feeds were supposed to show nothing but wind and endless white — until dark, upright shapes appeared moving across the frozen horizon. At first, researchers assumed equipment glitches or drifting shadows, but frame-by-frame analysis revealed something unsettling: the figures were walking — deliberately, rhythmically — near Antarctica’s massive ice wall. Now scientists are scrambling to explain what was captured on camera… because whatever it was, it didn’t behave like anything they’ve seen before.
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00:00A vast expanse of white snow, freezing winds, lifeless landscapes, and weird, eerie signals seemingly coming from within Earth.
00:10These radio pulses occur in Antarctica, and no one can figure out what they are and where they're coming from.
00:18You see, scientists are running an experiment called ANITA, short for Antarctica Impulsive Transient Antenna.
00:25Basically, it's a bunch of detectors strapped to giant balloons and floating way up above the South Pole.
00:31Their job is to detect extremely high-energy neutrinos.
00:36How do they spot them?
00:38Right at the moment when neutrinos come into contact with ice and produce an intense, short burst of radio waves.
00:46Now, neutrinos are these tiny, almost massless particles that don't have an electric charge.
00:52They're everywhere, and billions of them are flying through you every second, even while you're watching this video.
01:00Neutrinos come from all over the place.
01:03From the Sun, exploding stars, deep space, even from under your feet.
01:08The Sun pumps them out non-stop as it fuses hydrogen into helium.
01:13Stars that are going off blast out huge bursts of neutrinos during supernova explosions.
01:19When high-energy cosmic rays hit our atmosphere, they make new neutrinos that rain down on us, too.
01:26And some even come from radioactive stuff decaying inside Earth.
01:31The oldest neutrinos have been flying through the universe since the Big Bang.
01:36But they're practically invisible, because they almost never react with anything.
01:42That's why scientists use unbelievable experiments like ANITA to try and catch even a few of them.
01:49But let's get back to that fateful day when everything changed.
01:54Normally, the radio signals produced by neutrinos bounce off the ice and fly upward.
02:00That's where ANITA can catch them.
02:03This is the whole point of the experiment.
02:05To study neutrinos and learn more about distant cosmic events, like supernovas or whatever's happening light-years away.
02:13But then something really weird happened.
02:16The detectors picked up radio waves that weren't bouncing off the ice at all.
02:20They looked like they were coming from below the horizon.
02:23From under the ice.
02:24Now, this shouldn't even be possible.
02:28According to everything we know about physics, signals can't just travel upward through solid rock and ice.
02:35One of the researchers, Stephanie Wiesel from Penn State, also said that those radio waves were coming in at super
02:42-steep angles, like 30 degrees below the surface.
02:46The only way that could happen is if the signal had passed through thousands of miles of solid rock before
02:52hitting the detector.
02:53But if that were true, the rock would have completely absorbed it.
02:57So something just didn't add up.
02:59The team ran all the numbers and still got no clear answer.
03:03But for them, it was an interesting problem, since they didn't actually know what those anomalies were.
03:10What they did know was that they were probably not neutrinos.
03:15That's because if the team does detect a neutrino, that means it's traveled an insane distance without bumping into anything,
03:22possibly all the way from the edge of the observable universe.
03:27So, whatever Anita has picked up, it's not behaving like anything scientists have seen before.
03:32It might mean there's some totally new type of particle out there, or maybe something else is going on that
03:37we just don't understand yet.
03:39They published the findings in physical review letters, but the mystery remains unsolved.
03:45No one really knows what's going on under that Antarctic ice.
03:48Just that something out there isn't playing by the rules.
03:52Now, if scientists actually manage to detect and trace where those crazy fast particles come from, they can learn tons
03:59of stuff about the universe.
04:01Way more than even the biggest, most expensive telescopes allow us to see.
04:06You see, neutrinos basically zip through space almost at the speed of light, barely bumping into anything.
04:13It means they can carry untouched data about events that happened millions or even billions of light years away.
04:19That's why WISL and a bunch of other researchers around the world have been building these insanely sensitive detectors to
04:27catch neutrino signals.
04:29Even the tiniest ones are super important.
04:31Because in this field, one tiny blip of data can hold a treasure chest of information.
04:38So, researchers have been designing setups in both Antarctica and South America to catch these rare particles.
04:46ANITA is one of those detectors, and Antarctica's the perfect spot for it.
04:51There's hardly any radio noise, there are no cities, no traffic, and no random interference.
04:57The setup is actually pretty cool.
05:00They attach a cluster of radio antennas to a giant balloon, send it a few dozen miles up into the
05:06sky,
05:07and make it float over the endless stretches of white ice.
05:10From up there, it points downward, listening for faint radio signals coming from deep inside the ice.
05:16When one of those super-rare neutrinos, specifically a tau neutrino, hits the ice,
05:22it creates another particle called a tau lepton.
05:25That lepton then shoots out of the ice and starts breaking down, losing energy and turning into smaller bits.
05:31That decay process gives off what's called an air shower,
05:34kind of like a spray of invisible sparks flying through the air.
05:38If we could actually see those air showers with our eyes,
05:42they'd look like someone waving a sparkler through the dark,
05:45bright streaks trailing behind as it moves.
05:49Studying the direction and pattern of these signals,
05:52the ones from the ice, ice showers,
05:55and the ones in the air, air showers.
05:58Scientists can figure out where the original particle came from.
06:02Usually it's super precise,
06:04kind of like bouncing a ball off the ground.
06:06You can predict where it'll go.
06:09But these weird new signals don't bounce the way they're supposed to.
06:14The angles are all wrong way steeper than anything the models can explain.
06:19So, the team dug deeper.
06:21First, they looked at all the data from ANITA's multiple balloon flights.
06:25Then they compared it against tons of computer simulations of cosmic rays and neutrinos
06:30and filtered out all the usual background noise.
06:33They even cross-checked their results with other experiments like the ice cube detector,
06:38which is also located in Antarctica,
06:41and the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina.
06:44They wanted to see if anyone else had picked up similar upward-going air showers.
06:49And guess what?
06:51Things got even weirder.
06:52They found...
06:54nothing.
06:55No other detectors had picked up anything that could explain what ANITA had seen.
06:59That's why the researchers ended up calling the whole situation anomalous.
07:03It basically means, yeah, we have no idea what this is,
07:07but it sure isn't behaving like a neutrino.
07:10Whistle explained that the signals just didn't fit into the usual picture
07:13of how particles were supposed to act.
07:15Some people have floated ideas, like maybe it's some new kind of physics,
07:20or a hint of dark matter.
07:22Dark matter is basically that invisible stuff that keeps the universe from falling apart.
07:27It's everywhere.
07:28We just can't see it.
07:30Scientists have been trying to figure out what it actually is for almost a century,
07:34and it's still one of the biggest mysteries out there.
07:38Everything we can see, like stars, planets, people, dogs,
07:42makes up only about 5% of the universe.
07:44And dark matter makes up around 27%.
07:47The rest is something even stranger, called dark energy.
07:52Scientists think dark matter is what gives galaxies their shape,
07:56and holds everything together like cosmic glue.
07:59Without it, the universe would look totally different.
08:02It would be totally amazing to find out that this theory is true.
08:06But since Ice Cube and Augur haven't caught the same thing,
08:09that really limits the possibilities.
08:12Penn State has been in the neutrino-detecting game for almost a decade now,
08:17building detectors and analyzing all kinds of cosmic signals.
08:20And the team is already working on their next big project,
08:24a brand new detector called Pueo.
08:26It's going to be bigger, more sensitive, and way better at spotting those elusive neutrino signals.
08:32For now, this remains just one of those long-running cosmic mysteries that keep scientists awake at night.
08:38But the team is optimistic.
08:40When Pueo goes up, it'll have better sensors,
08:43which means if there really are more of these anomalies out there,
08:47this time, they'll catch them.
08:49And maybe then, we'll finally figure out what's behind them.
08:55In 2020, strange signals from deep beneath Antarctica sent shockwaves through the news.
09:02Within days, headlines exploded.
09:05NASA had found a parallel universe where time runs in reverse.
09:11But what really happened?
09:13And what did scientists actually detect?
09:15Well, this story is a case of madness, misunderstood experiments,
09:20and the human need to believe in mystery.
09:25Even today, every few months,
09:27someone reposts a headline screaming that NASA found a parallel universe in Antarctica.
09:33A universe where time flows backwards, and people believe it.
09:37But no, NASA didn't find a mirror world under the South Pole,
09:42or some sort of a backwards reality where people age in reverse or speak in rewound sentences.
09:47They did find something curious, though.
09:52Here's what actually went down.
09:54Scientists were flying a strange-looking instrument over Antarctica called ANITA,
09:59short for Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna.
10:03ANITA is a machine that floats over Antarctica,
10:07basically a giant balloon with antennas.
10:10It listens for tiny space particles called neutrinos.
10:15Neutrinos are super small and ghost-like.
10:18They have almost no weight and go through stuff like it's not even there,
10:22even entire planets.
10:25Usually, these neutrinos come from space and reign on Earth from above.
10:31Most neutrinos, the common low-energy ones,
10:34just fly right through the Earth like it's air.
10:37They're like tiny bugs flying through a chain-link fence.
10:41There are some very high-energy neutrinos, though.
10:45They're super rare, and they interact a bit more often with matter,
10:49and they can get blocked.
10:52If high-energy neutrinos hit something dense enough,
10:55like the rock and metal inside Earth,
10:58they might finally bump into a particle and get absorbed.
11:02That's more like fast tennis balls that hit the fence once in a while.
11:07Low-energy neutrinos, which are everywhere and pretty harmless,
11:11are pretty undetectable.
11:13But these high-energy guys are exactly what ANITA can detect.
11:18When they slam into ice,
11:20they send some radio waves that are easy to listen to.
11:23This faint radio signal is called the Ascarian effect.
11:27And yep, that's exactly why ANITA is flying over Antarctica.
11:33That's because the ice is pure, dry, and quiet.
11:37It's perfect for catching those rare signals.
11:41So, what did ANITA detect?
11:44It detected something rising up from below the ice,
11:48like a high-energy neutrino coming from the Earth.
11:51What?
11:53Okay, let's think logically.
11:55Maybe it started somewhere in the north,
11:58traveled all the way through the Earth,
11:59and popped out the other side.
12:02Still, that's super weird.
12:04That's not supposed to happen.
12:06Neutrinos with that much energy
12:08should have been stopped inside the planet.
12:11Like we said, get absorbed.
12:14So, scientists caught a little bit of a brain bug.
12:18That shouldn't be possible with our current physics,
12:20unless something we don't understand is going on.
12:24And when you're faced with something bizarre,
12:26you explore all options,
12:28even the wildest ones.
12:31The nightmare began.
12:33A group of researchers published a paper
12:35suggesting that this strange signal
12:37might make sense in a CPT symmetric universe.
12:42CPT stands for charge, parity, and time.
12:46These are basically three ways to flip the universe.
12:51Charge means swap all particles to their opposites.
12:56For example, swap electrons,
12:58the guys with the negative charge,
13:00with positrons,
13:01their antimatter twins with the positive charge.
13:05Parity means mirror the universe.
13:07Literally like looking at it through the mirror,
13:10left becomes right,
13:11and right becomes left.
13:13And time, of course, means run time backward,
13:17like rewinding a video.
13:20Now, there's a big rule in physics
13:22called CPT symmetry.
13:24It says that if you change
13:26all three of those things at once,
13:28the laws of physics should still work the same.
13:31This is kind of insane,
13:33but if you took the entire universe
13:36and swapped matter with antimatter,
13:38mirrored it, and reversed time,
13:40it would still follow the same physics.
13:43Why is that?
13:45Well, in our universe,
13:47an electron bumps into a positron,
13:49and they annihilate into photons.
13:52Cool!
13:53Now take that,
13:55mirror everything,
13:56and what do you get?
13:57Well, photons spontaneously turn into a positron
14:01and an electron,
14:03but mirrored and reversed.
14:05It's still the same physics,
14:07even if it's backwards.
14:08The equations still check out,
14:11so nature thinks this is valid.
14:14So here came the crazy part.
14:16Some physicists thought,
14:18what if the Big Bang created two universes?
14:22One is ours,
14:23made of normal matter,
14:24going forward in time.
14:26The other is a mirror twin,
14:28made of antimatter,
14:30going backward in time from our perspective.
14:34This doesn't mean that someone in the other universe
14:36feels time going backward.
14:38To them,
14:39time flows forward,
14:40just like it does for us.
14:42But from our point of view,
14:43they're moving from our future toward our past.
14:47And vice versa.
14:48To them,
14:49we're weirdos who move backwards.
14:51And if both universes are exact CPT mirror images of each other,
14:56that would mean same physics,
14:59same rules,
15:00just symmetrical.
15:02Same rules,
15:03just symmetrical.
15:05This isn't some crazy sci-fi theory,
15:08even if it sounds like it.
15:09It helps explain weird physics mysteries.
15:12For example,
15:13why there's so much matter in our universe,
15:16but not much antimatter,
15:17even though
15:18they were supposed to be created
15:20in equal proportions.
15:22Or,
15:23why the universe is so symmetrical
15:25and balanced in some strange ways.
15:29So,
15:30coming back to the neutrinos,
15:32some scientists suggested
15:33that maybe those upward-flying particles
15:36could be coming from that CPT mirror universe,
15:39poking through into ours,
15:41like a crack
15:42between two symmetrical realities.
15:45And if you look at it like that,
15:47this is quite a wild take.
15:50It's speculative.
15:51It's not proven.
15:52It's more of a cool thought,
15:54but the media immediately blew up.
15:56They ran a piece with the headline
15:58that said,
15:59we found proof
16:00of a parallel universe
16:01going backwards in time
16:03in Antarctica.
16:04And all the other big tabloids
16:07picked it up.
16:07They made it sound like
16:09NASA had actually found
16:10a parallel universe.
16:12Time travel is real.
16:13Multiverse is confirmed.
16:15Meanwhile,
16:16people who worked directly on ANITA
16:18immediately caught brain damage.
16:21They tried to jump in
16:22to say that's not what happened at all.
16:25They explained that the signals
16:27were unusual, yes,
16:29but there were plenty of normal explanations
16:31that didn't require
16:32rewriting the laws of physics.
16:34It could even be
16:36just an experimental error.
16:38Maybe an unusual particle behavior
16:40or gaps in how we model
16:42neutrino interactions.
16:44Of course,
16:46no one listens to experts
16:47about what experts discovered.
16:49And once an idea like that
16:51hits social media,
16:52it becomes nearly impossible
16:54to put back in the box.
16:56But that also doesn't mean
16:58that the multiverse
16:59definitely isn't real.
17:01Far from it.
17:02Physicists are still exploring
17:04the concept
17:05and assume that some of those
17:06potential universes,
17:07if they exist,
17:09could have different laws of physics.
17:12One idea called
17:14the many-worlds theory
17:15comes from quantum physics.
17:18It says that every time
17:20something can happen
17:21in more than one way,
17:22like a particle moving
17:24or a decision being made,
17:26all those possibilities
17:27actually happen,
17:29but in separate universes.
17:31So, there could be
17:33endless versions of reality,
17:35each slightly different,
17:37branching off from every event.
17:38Maybe in one universe,
17:40dinosaurs never went extinct.
17:43Maybe in another,
17:44you never sent
17:45that embarrassing text.
17:47Another theory is called
17:49the bubble universe theory.
17:51After the Big Bang,
17:53the universe expanded
17:54incredibly fast
17:56in a process
17:57called inflation.
17:59Some scientists think
18:00that inflation
18:01never fully stopped
18:02and is still happening
18:03in some regions.
18:05That would mean
18:06new bubble universes
18:07are constantly forming,
18:09each with its own version
18:11of physics.
18:12Our universe
18:13would just be
18:14one bubble
18:15in a giant cosmic sea
18:17of others.
18:19The third idea
18:20is about shadow matter.
18:22Dark matter is invisible,
18:24but its gravity
18:25affects the universe.
18:26Some scientists think
18:28it could be made
18:29of particles
18:29similar to the ones
18:31that make up
18:31regular matter,
18:32but they're just
18:33hidden from us.
18:34This mirror,
18:36or shadow matter,
18:37could form entire
18:38invisible galaxies,
18:40and even life,
18:41all existing
18:42right alongside us.
18:44Maybe we just
18:45can't detect it
18:46in any way
18:46except through gravity
18:48for now.
18:50But in physics,
18:51all of those
18:52are just theories,
18:54mathematical possibilities.
18:56We have no direct
18:57evidence that it's real.
18:59If we ever find one,
19:01though,
19:01let's now hope
19:03it won't be
19:03the boy who cried wolf's
19:05scenario.
19:06Welcome to one
19:07of the most mysterious
19:08and unexplored places
19:10on Earth.
19:11Um,
19:12but what's so special
19:13about that?
19:14It's just some icy peaks
19:16and the endless snowy
19:17expanse of Antarctica.
19:19Yeah,
19:20that's right,
19:20but there's still
19:21a planetary scale
19:22mystery here.
19:23No matter how hard
19:25you try,
19:25you won't see
19:26a hidden mountain range,
19:27giant,
19:28unexplored land
19:29where no human
19:30has ever set foot,
19:31and it lies under
19:33another layer
19:34of mountains.
19:36It's like a nesting doll
19:37but the size
19:38of a continent.
19:39These mountains
19:40hide Antarctica secrets
19:42and these secrets
19:43can tell us
19:44something awesome
19:45about the ancient
19:46history of our planet.
19:49This gigantic,
19:51unexplored territory
19:52in Antarctica
19:52is called
19:53the Gambritsev
19:54Subglacial Mountains
19:55and the layer
19:57of ice above
19:58keeps this place
19:59untouched
20:00by nature
20:00and people.
20:02It's like a land
20:03inside another land
20:04and it hides
20:05more than just mountains.
20:07There are valleys,
20:08hills,
20:09and plains.
20:10The whole area
20:11is similar
20:11to the European Alps
20:13but unfortunately,
20:14we can't enjoy the view.
20:16Those mountains
20:17were first discovered
20:18in 1958
20:19using seismological
20:21instruments.
20:22More than half
20:23a century
20:24has passed since then
20:25and this place
20:26still remains
20:27one of the most
20:27poorly studied
20:28tectonic objects
20:29on Earth.
20:30Why?
20:31Because it's ice.
20:33A lot of ice.
20:35Who knows?
20:36Maybe there are
20:37some unknown
20:38ancient artifacts
20:39lying there.
20:39What if they're hiding
20:40a secret city
20:41or spaceships?
20:43It's unlikely,
20:44of course,
20:44but it would still
20:45be interesting
20:46to look there.
20:47Think about it.
20:48Hundreds
20:48or even thousands
20:49of miles of land
20:50that have remained
20:51unchanged
20:52for hundreds
20:53of millions
20:54of years.
20:55even if
20:56no new species
20:57of animals
20:57or remains
20:58of an ancient
20:59civilization
20:59are there,
21:01this place
21:01still has a history.
21:03The history
21:04of the formation
21:05of continents
21:06on our planet.
21:07And scientists
21:08have already
21:09figured out
21:10some of this story.
21:13The mountains
21:14buried in Antarctica
21:15were originally
21:16like ordinary mountains
21:17but as a result
21:18of a planetary
21:19scale event,
21:20they just...
21:21Wait a minute.
21:22Have you ever wondered
21:23how mountain ranges
21:24are formed?
21:25We see them
21:26in real life,
21:26in movies,
21:28in photos
21:28on the internet.
21:29We climb them.
21:30But how did they appear?
21:32Mountains have not
21:33always existed
21:34on the planet
21:35in this form.
21:36They appeared
21:36as a result
21:37of a large-scale
21:38collision
21:38of tectonic plates.
21:40Two giant,
21:41solid chunks
21:42of ground
21:43are moving
21:43toward each other,
21:44then crash,
21:45and boom!
21:47Millions of tons
21:48of the Earth's crust
21:49pile on top
21:50of each other,
21:51mix,
21:51and form ledges
21:53and gorges.
21:54And all this
21:56can last
21:56for millions of years.
21:58Yes,
21:59it's a disaster,
22:00but it's very slow.
22:02Some tectonic plates
22:04are still colliding.
22:05For example,
22:06the Himalayas
22:07continue to grow
22:07because the Indian
22:09and Eurasian plates
22:10are still ramming
22:11into each other.
22:12And this process
22:13began about
22:1450 million years ago.
22:16The Gambertsev
22:17Mountains Under Ice
22:18experienced
22:19a similar event,
22:20only much earlier.
22:21An article
22:22in the journal
22:23Earth and Planetary Science
22:25Letters
22:25says that they appeared
22:27during the formation
22:27of the supercontinent
22:29Gondwana.
22:31Two giant pieces
22:32of land
22:33were separated
22:34by a boundless ocean.
22:35But then,
22:36about 700 million years ago,
22:39they collided
22:40and formed Gondwana.
22:42This supercontinent
22:43included the territories
22:44of modern Africa,
22:46South America,
22:47Australia,
22:48India,
22:48and Antarctica.
22:50The giant pieces
22:51crashed into each other
22:52and released a stream
22:54of hot,
22:54partially molten rock.
22:56This mess grew bigger
22:58and bigger,
22:58forming mountains.
22:59The temperature
23:00of those mountains grew,
23:02their mass increased,
23:03and at some point,
23:05Gondwana became unstable.
23:06The supercontinent
23:08began to collapse
23:09under its own weight.
23:11The hot rocks below the surface
23:13began to flow sideways
23:14as a result of a process
23:16called gravitational spreading.
23:18Take toothpaste
23:19and start squeezing it
23:21out of the tube.
23:22Approximately the same thing
23:23happened with billions
23:24of tons of red hot rock.
23:27Ancient mountains
23:28in Antarctica
23:29appeared right during
23:31this catastrophic event.
23:33You've just watched
23:34a visual simulation
23:35of global events
23:36that took place
23:37hundreds of millions
23:38of years ago.
23:39It looks cool,
23:40but how did scientists
23:42figure it out?
23:43How did they see
23:44this planetary scale
23:45destruction?
23:46If the Gampartsev Mountains
23:48under ice
23:49is one of the most
23:49unexplored places
23:50in the world,
23:51then how could people
23:53find out its origin?
23:55The answer is simple.
23:57Tiny particles of rock
23:58have told us
23:59about the changing landscape
24:01of the planet.
24:02These are zircons,
24:04but scientists also
24:05call them time capsules.
24:07This mineral is very handy
24:09and resistant to mechanical
24:11and chemical influences.
24:12It's difficult to crush,
24:14it doesn't get affected
24:15by erosion,
24:16and it doesn't dissolve
24:17in water.
24:18And there's uranium
24:20inside it.
24:21This chemical element
24:22shows scientists
24:23the age of the rock.
24:25The fact is that uranium
24:27always decays into lead
24:29at the same rate.
24:30Scientists look at the ratio
24:32of uranium and lead
24:34and determine the age
24:35of minerals with great accuracy.
24:37Okay, this sounds
24:39a bit complicated.
24:40Here's a simple example.
24:42Imagine that each mountain belt
24:43is a clock that starts ticking
24:45at the moment of its formation,
24:47that is,
24:48after the collision
24:49of tectonic plates.
24:51After the rock forms,
24:53uranium begins its slow decay.
24:55The more time passes,
24:56the more uranium turns into lead.
24:59The rate of this decay
25:01is always the same.
25:02This decay can last
25:04for billions of years.
25:06The less uranium is in zircons
25:08and the more lead,
25:09the older the rock is.
25:11And this is how it happens
25:13in practice.
25:14Geologists take several rock samples.
25:17In a lab,
25:18they crush it
25:18to extract crystalline zircons.
25:21Geologists then dissolve
25:23the particles in acid
25:24to separate uranium from lead.
25:26Then, they use a special device,
25:28a mass spectrometer
25:30that accelerates atoms
25:31and sorts them by mass.
25:33This is a rather complicated process,
25:36but the bottom line
25:37is that this device
25:38shows scientists
25:39the amount of uranium and lead.
25:42They look at the ratios
25:43of these two elements
25:44and calculate the age of the rock.
25:48Geologists took zircons
25:49from sandstones
25:50near the Gambertsev Mountains,
25:52studied those particles,
25:53looked at the level of uranium,
25:55and calculated the chronology
25:57of mountain formation.
25:59Then, they compared the data
26:00obtained
26:01with the history of our planet
26:02and realized
26:03that the mountains
26:04buried in Antarctica
26:05appeared during the formation
26:07of the supercontinent Gondwana.
26:09But how did they find out
26:11that the supercontinent
26:12included Australia,
26:13India, and Africa?
26:15Zirconia from those Antarctic rocks
26:17turned out to be very similar
26:19to zirconium from those countries.
26:21That is, a long time ago,
26:23these three continents
26:25were together.
26:26So, the Gambertsev Mountains
26:28began to grow
26:29about 650 million years ago.
26:32About 580 million years ago,
26:35they reached the height
26:36of the Himalayas,
26:37and 80 million years later,
26:39they experienced the melting
26:40of the Earth's crust.
26:41And while most of the mountain ranges
26:44on the planet
26:44were changing and collapsing,
26:46the Gambertsev Mountains
26:47under ice remained untouched.
26:51Water, soil, wind, earthquakes,
26:54gravity, and other natural forces
26:56destroy mountain belts.
26:58This process is called erosion.
27:00But mountains buried in Antarctica
27:02haven't experienced
27:03anything like this.
27:05The cold temperature
27:06and the ice sheet around them
27:07kept this range unchanged.
27:09It's one of the best-preserved
27:11ancient mountain belts
27:12on the planet.
27:13Okay, but why do we need
27:15to explore these mountains?
27:16What difference does it make
27:18that the supercontinent Gondwana
27:20collapsed in the past?
27:21It's possible that plants,
27:23frozen bodies of insects,
27:25or ancient bacteria
27:26have remained preserved
27:27under thick layers of ice.
27:29What about ancient animals?
27:31Many species could have lived
27:33on Gondwana.
27:35Studying ancient mountains
27:36in Antarctica
27:37can show us
27:38what the planet looked like
27:39about a half a billion years ago.
27:41When Antarctica was a green continent,
27:43what lived on it?
27:44What happened to this life?
27:47Is it possible to revive
27:48those ancient creatures
27:49after so many years?
27:51If scientists were able
27:53to calculate the date
27:54of the supercontinent's appearance
27:55using tiny particles,
27:57then imagine what they could find
27:59after examining
28:00this hidden mountain range.
28:01It all sounds very interesting,
28:04but there's one problem.
28:06To take a small piece
28:07of this unknown world,
28:09you need to drill through
28:10a lot of ice.
28:11You need to deliver
28:12heavy equipment
28:13to one of the most
28:14inaccessible continents
28:15in the world,
28:16build stations,
28:17obtain an energy source,
28:19and conduct large-scale research.
28:21It sounds incredibly expensive,
28:23so this hidden territory
28:25will probably remain a mystery
28:27for a long time.
28:29Let's just hope
28:30that some billionaire
28:31will want to find out
28:32Antarctica's secrets
28:34and arrange
28:35a large-scale expedition there.
28:36and I'll see you next time.
28:36Bye-bye.
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