What in the world is it?

I've never heard of it before either, but here's something

"White tea" does not refer to black tea with milk, but rather to a specific form of tea in which the leaves and buds are simply steamed and dried. In this sense, white tea represents the least processed form of tea, since green, oolong and black teas undergo withering before various degrees of oxidation. White tea also contains a higher proportion of buds, which are covered with fine 'silvery' hairs that impart a light white/grey color to the tea. White tea brews to a pale yellow/light red color, and has a slightly sweet flavor with no 'grassy' undertones sometimes associated with green tea.

They are testing it to see if it prevents cancer/makes you live longer.

whoa, green tea without the weird green flavor? I'll get some of that!!

i'm assuming it is also younger? if thats the case, its very expensive