Strange Flammable Ice Could Hold Clues To Extraterrestrial Life, Researchers Reveal

A group of researchers accidentally discovered that flammable ice contains microscopic bubbles that host microbial life. According to the researchers, finding the same strange material in icy exoplanets could lead to the discovery of alien life.

Methane hydrate, also known as flammable ice, forms when methane gas freezes and becomes trapped within the molecular structure of ice. This causes microscopic bubbles of water and oil to form within the methane hydrate.

Recently, a team of researchers ventured into the Sea of Japan to study the flammable ice in the region. Originally, the purpose of the expedition was to study the composition of the methane gas within the flammable ice by melting the hydrate.

While doing so, the study’s lead author Glen Snyder of Meiji University came across a powder-like substance that contained microscopic spheres with dark centers. Upon a closer inspection, Snyder and his team learned that the spheres contained oil and water, which helped support the development of microbial life within the methane hydrate.

“In combination with the other evidence collected by my colleagues, my results showed that even under near-freezing temperatures, at extremely high pressures, with only heavy oil and saltwater for food-sources, life was flourishing and leaving its mark,” the study’s co-author Stephen Bowden said in a statement.

Through their surprising discovery, the researchers theorized that the same concept could be used in finding traces of alien life in other planets. According to the researchers, methane hydrate can form as organic matter degrade on the seafloor.

In alien planets that are covered in ice, methane produced naturally could get trapped within the ice, creating methane hydrate. Since this strange material could contain the necessary resource to support microbes, the researchers believe that finding flammable ice on an exoplanet could lead to the discovery of extraterrestrial life.

“Providing they have ice and a little heat, all those frigid cold planets at the edge of every planetary system could host tiny microhabitats with microbes building their own 'death stars' and making their own tiny little atmospheres and ecosystems, just as we discovered here,” Bowden explained.

The findings of the researchers were presented in a new study published in the journal Nature.