Meteorite Made of Earth's Oldest Material Found in Antarctica | Weather.com - The Weather Channel

The cold continent of Antarctica holds relics of our planet's past — from clues of major climate events to zombie viruses buried beneath its frozen exterior.

The white backdrop makes the dark-coloured meteorites easier to spot, and the dry, desert-ish climate keeps the weathering in check.

Antarctica's Blue Ice Field is an area with winds so strong, they can literally blow away layers of snow atop glaciers.

According to Professor Maria Schoenbaechler, the meteorite belongs to the oldest material that can be found on Earth, which makes it similar to a building block of our planet.

Before venturing out into Antarctica’s tricky terrain, the research team mapped the area using satellite imagery — covering aspects such as ice flow, temperature, and surface slope measurements — to pinpoint sites with a higher possibility of new meteorites with the help of artificial intelligence.

These predictions may well renew humanity’s aspirations of making more such discoveries, which could help us trace our solar system’s history and ultimately expand our understanding of the universe.