Antarctica

Find out everything there is to know about Antarctica and stay updated on the latest Antarctica news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and Antarctica pictures at LiveScience.com. Learn more about this fascinating continent as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about Antarctica.

Related Topics: Arctic, Climate Change, Global Warming, Penguins

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A diver in Antarctica's McMurdo Sound observes a Weddell seal swimming toward him.

Seals are making 'Star Wars' noises at each other underwater, and we have no idea why

By Brandon Specktor

Antarctica's Weddell seals communicate with each other in a high-pitched underwater language reminiscent of Star Wars sound effects, a new study finds.

Scientists will deploy two robot gliders like this one to study iceberg A-68a.

The UK is sending robot submarines to watch the world’s largest iceberg crash into an island

By Brandon Specktor

The world’s largest iceberg appears days away from crashing into a penguin-filled island. These robots will study the aftermath.

A mummified Adélie penguin chick's head in Antarctica.

Dozens of ancient penguin 'mummies' discovered at lost nesting site in Antarctica

By Brandon Specktor

Melting snow in Antarctica reveals ancient penguin 'mummies' dating to 5,000 years ago.

Melting from ice shelves in Greenland and Antarctica (like the Getz Ice Shelf seen here) will contribute over 15 inches to global sea level rise by 2100, scientists have found in a new study.

Melting ice sheets will add over 15 inches to global sea level rise by 2100

By Chelsea Gohd

A new, international study shows the significant impact that melting ice sheets will have on global sea levels.

The Japanese research vessel Shirase sails through the ice near Shirase Glacier, in East Antarctica

Scientists discover the fastest-melting spot in East Antarctica

By Brandon Specktor

A hidden, deep-sea 'hotspot' is carving away this East Antarctic ice shelf from below, new research finds

Here is the best place on Earth to see stars, according to science

By Brandon Specktor

Scientists confirm that ‘Dome A’ in Antarctica is the best place on Earth to see stars.

One of the world's largest icebergs calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

How a hidden ocean circulates beneath the Antarctic ice

By Craig Stevens, Christina Hulbe

Thick ice isolates a hidden ocean cavity from the furious winds and freezing air temperatures of Antarctica. But nothing stops the tides.

An illustration of the temperate rainforest that thrived in West Antarctica about 90 million years ago, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth.

Remains of 90 million-year-old rainforest discovered under Antarctic ice

By Laura Geggel

Antarctica was home to a temperate, swampy forest about 90 million years ago.

Streaks of red algae coat the Antarctic ice in "blood snow."

Spooky 'blood snow' invades Antarctic island

By Brandon Specktor

Blood-red algae is blooming in Antarctica, leading to plains of creepy 'watermelon snow' across Galindez Island.

Antarctica's Eagle Island on Feb. 4 and Feb. 13, 2020.

See record-high temperatures strip Antarctica of huge amounts of ice

By Brandon Specktor

Antarctica saw two record-high temperatures set between Feb. 6 and Feb.9, and that took a huge toll on the continent's ice, as seen in NASA images.

An iceberg bobs in the water of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica just saw its all-time hottest day ever

By Brandon Specktor

A research station off Antarctica's northern tip just reported a new record-high temperature of 69.35 degrees Fahrenheit (20.75 degrees Celsius).

Icefin, an underwater robot, took a wild journey underneath a melting glacier in Antarctica.

Surprisingly warm water found on underside of Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier'

By Laura Geggel

For the first time, an underwater robot visited the bottom of Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier.

Scientists Are Racing to Figure Out Why This Giant Glacier in Antarctica Is Melting So Fast

By Tom Metcalfe

A robotic submarine is about to descend into a dark, water-filled cavern in Antarctica, to try to find out why one of the continent's largest glaciers is melting so fast.

16 Times Antarctica Revealed Its Awesomeness in 2019

By Stephanie Pappas

The scientists on the expedition hope that two specialized arrays of metal detectors, towed by snowmobiles, will reveal iron meteorites from the early solar system just below the icy surface.

'Lost' Iron Meteorites May Lurk Beneath Antarctic Ice. Scientists on Quest to Find Them.

By Tom Metcalfe

Scientists are scouring the remote Antarctic ice cap for rare meteorites chock-full of iron and holding secrets to the history of our solar system going back some 4.5 billion years.

This image shows the two cracks captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite on Sept. 14, 2019.

Endangered Antarctic Glacier Could Soon Calve a Massive New Iceberg

By Mindy Weisberger

Two large rifts have widened near the edge of Pine Island Glacier on the West Antarctic ice sheet. If they continue to grow, they could release an iceberg four times bigger than Manhattan.