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

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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/)

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