Scientists brave one of the coldest places on Earth, and it's well worth it.
(Inside Science) -- Antarctica is unlike anywhere else on Earth. It's the highest, driest, coldest and windiest continent on the planet. Its ice sheet is the largest ice store on Earth as well.
Despite the continent's extreme conditions, it's also a great natural laboratory -- which is why so many scientists brave the cold to work there.
Huw Griffiths is a marine biogeographer who never thought he would visit the area but ended up exploring, studying and learning new things about the vast, remote land. He grew up near the beach and wouldn't have pictured himself studying marine biology in a completely opposite climate in Antarctica. But it's paid off, because he loved it and finds new species every time he visits!