We know that meteorites can fall all over the world. But the environment and unique processes and pristine surfaces in Antarctica make it easy to locate them. However, meteor hunting in Antarctica is physically very difficult and extremely dangerous. But what if there was a “treasure map” showing the right places to find meteorites in Antarctica?
Researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands are using artificial intelligence to identify regions where meteorites are most likely to be found. Veronica Tollenaar, the director of the research published in Science Advances, says, “Thanks to our analysis, we used satellite observations of temperature, ice flow rate, surface cover and geometry to determine the location of meteorite fields,” she continues: “We have 80 percent of the treasure map we prepared with the support of artificial intelligence. We think it’s true.”
After this research, scientists calculate that there are more than 300,000 meteorites waiting to be found in Antarctica. This figure represents an enormous potential for scientific discovery. The fact that Antarctica is a region that is not visited much and is not the subject of research makes it even more mysterious.
If you’ve read this far with interest, we invite you to watch The Thing, a 1982 movie, so that you can see the results of a similar research done in Antarctica. Directed by John Carpenter, Kurt Russell stars in the lead role…
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