In the natural world, Antarctica is where to look for the coldest place on Earth. In 1983, thermometers at the Soviet Vostok Station recorded an air temperature of -89.2°C.
This remains the lowest temperature ever measured directly at ground level. But remote satellite measurements of surface ice at -93.2°C suggest it might get even colder than that.
Antarctica is colder than the Arctic because it is a landmass surrounded by ocean, and is higher on average than the Arctic - thanks in part to the Transantarctic Mountains. The Antarctic Ice Sheet is also bigger and thicker than the Arctic's ice.
Antarctica is home to a hole host of wildlife from penguins to albatrosses, seals to whales
- Does Antarctica have any insects?
- Why polar bears can't live in Antarctica
- Are there snakes in the Arctic?
- Why are there no penguins in the Arctic?
In the lab, scientists can artificially reduce the temperature to just a few trillionths of a degree above the theoretical minimum of -273.15oC, at which point particles stop moving.