In Antarctica’s remote Allan Hills Blue Ice Area, researcher Austin Carter of the Center for Old Ice Exploration (COLDEX) conducted a daring experiment.

He lowered an action camera into a 93-meter-deep borehole previously drilled for ice sampling. What it captured stunned scientists: “smooth, transparent ice walls glistening under the dim light,” revealing layers of ancient ice formed over millions of years.

This region holds some of the oldest ice on Earth—up to 2.7 million years old—trapping air from before humans existed. Scientists study ice cores as “time capsules,” using the tiny bubbles inside to track historical climate patterns and