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Anyone Could Break The Ice
In this episode, we find ourselves in the K2-18 system, orbiting K2-18b—a confirmed Hycean planet more than 100 light-years from Earth. With a surface cloaked in thick hydrogen-rich clouds, and a vast ice-covered ocean beneath, K2-18b has long been thought to be one of the most likely candidates for alien life.
The UFR Research Icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent has recently established orbit following the deployment of a new hydrogen-atmospheric descent rig—allowing limited surface access for the first time. But operating through the planet’s cloud layer is costly, risky, and requires corporate sponsorship.
GlacioDyne, a deep-extraction conglomerate, has funded the mission. Their goal: authorise full ice crust penetration, enabling access to volatile-rich sublayers and potential energy sources. But just days ago, the science team detected something unexpected:
Life.
A vast colony of complex multicellular myco-gelid (ultra low-temperature adaptive fungal-like) organisms have been found embedded in the ice—potentially unique to K2-18b containing a unique organic chemistry
What does this mean for the mission and who owns the rights for exploration?
Well Anything Could Happen…
CAST:
Sabrina Stubbs (she/they): Project Commander: Carman
Chris Payne (he/him): GlacioDyne Senior Engineer: John Woodrow
Lucie Prunier (she/her): UFR Scientific Oversight Officer: Lucicl
Hem Cleveland (she/her): Mission Science Lead: Benji Cople
HOST: Oscar Clark
EDITOR: Elliott Clark
SCENARIO: Oscar Clark
---
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/new-direction License code: EOPCFS6UIIFJBVAL
NOTES: Format and narrative background are adapted from 'WestPoint: Extra Planetary Academy' created by Oscar Clark with additional material by David Hankins
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Stormlantern Productions 2025
AnythingCouldHappen Show is part of the Fable and Folly Network (https://fableandfolly.com/)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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By Anything Could HappenIn this episode, we find ourselves in the K2-18 system, orbiting K2-18b—a confirmed Hycean planet more than 100 light-years from Earth. With a surface cloaked in thick hydrogen-rich clouds, and a vast ice-covered ocean beneath, K2-18b has long been thought to be one of the most likely candidates for alien life.
The UFR Research Icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent has recently established orbit following the deployment of a new hydrogen-atmospheric descent rig—allowing limited surface access for the first time. But operating through the planet’s cloud layer is costly, risky, and requires corporate sponsorship.
GlacioDyne, a deep-extraction conglomerate, has funded the mission. Their goal: authorise full ice crust penetration, enabling access to volatile-rich sublayers and potential energy sources. But just days ago, the science team detected something unexpected:
Life.
A vast colony of complex multicellular myco-gelid (ultra low-temperature adaptive fungal-like) organisms have been found embedded in the ice—potentially unique to K2-18b containing a unique organic chemistry
What does this mean for the mission and who owns the rights for exploration?
Well Anything Could Happen…
CAST:
Sabrina Stubbs (she/they): Project Commander: Carman
Chris Payne (he/him): GlacioDyne Senior Engineer: John Woodrow
Lucie Prunier (she/her): UFR Scientific Oversight Officer: Lucicl
Hem Cleveland (she/her): Mission Science Lead: Benji Cople
HOST: Oscar Clark
EDITOR: Elliott Clark
SCENARIO: Oscar Clark
---
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/new-direction License code: EOPCFS6UIIFJBVAL
NOTES: Format and narrative background are adapted from 'WestPoint: Extra Planetary Academy' created by Oscar Clark with additional material by David Hankins
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Stormlantern Productions 2025
AnythingCouldHappen Show is part of the Fable and Folly Network (https://fableandfolly.com/)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices