[Houshalter]

I've read an interesting theory about this before but I can't remember the source. If there was intelligent life on Antarctica, it would be impossible for us to detect it today. Antarctica was warmer once and could have supported much more life.

It's plausible any life that evolved there would be restricted to that continent. Humans evolved in warm climates and could adapt to cold climates by building shelters and wearing clothing. An animal that evolved in a cold climate would have a much harder time colonizing warm climates.

And since then glaciers have scraped the surface clean and there would be little remains of them.

<ridiculous_conspiracy_theory> I read another, much more crazy, theory, that the government is covering up something in Antarctica. There are so many untapped resources in Antarctica. And after WWII, lots of were exploring it and trying to lay claim to them. Then suddenly everyone left and a treaty was signed banning mining there. To protect the most desolate continent on Earth from... environmental harm? In the 1950's when environmentalism was such a big thing? And there are a suspicious number of military bases down there... And they are guarding what, exactly? What did they find... </ridiculous_conspiracy_theory>

[Flow]

Have you seen the subbreddit for "Antarctic Anomalies"? https://www.reddit.com/r/AntarcticAnomalies/

I find stories and myths around Antarctica fascinating. It's one of the last places on Earth humans haven't turned every rock.

[BurningFrog]

That, and the bottom of the ocean!

[winfred]

Here you go: http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/scien...

Mining wasn't banned until 1991. And as the article outlines, Antarctica is a really, really inhospitable place, to the point that it might be easier to colonize a different planet than to colonize Antarctica (I'd probably prefer equatorial Mars over Antarctica) and even mineral extraction would be very complicated.

[api]

I read a great rundown once on /r/space about how Antarctica actually is in many ways less hospitable than Mars, at least in winter. I find that rather amazing.

[awirth]

Perhaps you're thinking of this thread? https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/2xvdow/why_worry_abo...

[rsync]

"(I'd probably prefer equatorial Mars over Antarctica)"

Antarctica has the extremely important benefit of having earth gravity, whereas Mars is 1/3 the gravity of Earth.

Your health would rapidly decline on mars - everything from your bones becoming brittle to your muscle mass wasting to your teeth decaying. Your body would just fall apart.

[bonzini]

At least if you get to Antartica you don't need a pressurized suit and an airlock to go outside. It's difficult to imagine a less hospitable world than one without an atmosphere and a magnetic field (well, not talking about Venus-level inhospitable).

[Houshalter]

Also the biggest barrier to colonization is transportation. It's much easier to get to Antarctica than it is to Mars. Lots of humans have been to Antarctica. It's unlikely anyone will ever set foot on Mars for the foreseeable future.

[krylon]

H.P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" comes to mind... ;-)