Antarctica isn’t exactly a place I want to know more about. I mean, it’s cold, it’s dark, and it’s probably not meant for human life. Turns out, as always, I’m wrong. The history of Antarctica is fascinating. Kyle Sullivan weaves a really entertaining video (that’s so much better than any school lecture) about the origins of Antarctica, starting with the warm supercontinent Gondwana, where west Antarctica spent time in the Northern Hemisphere and east Antarctica hung out in the tropics. What we know as Antarctica today used to be a really hot place.
Gondwana eventually moved down to the south pole, and huge parts of it broke off to form other continents (Australia and South America), which changed the ocean currents, which turned Antarctica into the freezeland we know now.
Sullivan goes on to talk about how various countries wanted to claim Antartica and plant their flag, but everyone eventually bandied up to make it a place for science and banned the ugly politics.
Perhaps the best bit of the video is the way it connects the dinosaurs of Antarctica (who probably had badass night vision) to the penguins we love today.