Researchers Examine Possibility of Life Starting From Ice

on November 8, 2008

ScienceDaily: “Could Life Have Started in Lump of Ice? Very Cold Ice Films in Laboratory Reveal Mysteries of Universe” Maybe it was primordial soup. Maybe it was crystals. Maybe it was volcanic pools. Maybe it was lumps of ice. Maybe . . . .

The quest for the abiogenetic origin of life on earth goes on, as faithful evolutionists press forward with just-so stories to pacify what would otherwise be doubt. The latest yarn is that life may have developed in “ice film” that could perhaps have formed in outer space.

The latest yarn is that life may have developed in “ice film” ... formed in outer space.

Scientists from the Andalusian Institute for Earth Sciences have studied the microscopic structure of ice films, presenting recent findings at a workshop organized by the European Science Foundation. The workshop focused on ice in space, which is usually found on dust grains but can also exist on “asteroids, comets, cold moons or planets, and occasionally planets capable of supporting life such as Earth.”

So what does this have to do with the origin of life? At very low temperatures as in space, ice can form “amorphous” structures unlike the ice crystals that usually form on earth. Thus, the ice from space can, the news release notes, “exist in a combination of crystalline and amorphous forms, in other words as a mixture of order and disorder,” depending on what temperature the freezing took place and the underlying substrate. The release notes that at extremely low temperatures, ice forming on titanium substrate results in “a characteristic cauliflower structure.” Under other conditions, the ice appears to form leaf- and worm-like shapes, even looking similar to bacteria on the microscopic scale. The release notes that “researchers should not assume that lifelike forms in objects obtained from space, like Mars rock, is evidence that life actually existed there.” Says researcher Julyan Cartwright, “If one goes to another planet and sees small wormlike or palm like structures, one should not immediately call a press conference announcing alien life has been found.”

But wait—this sounds like the research is a cautionary note warning scientists against hyping what they think could be extraterrestrial life. So why does the headline ask, “Could Life Have Started in Lump of Ice?” The tone of the news release shifts from caution to wild speculation, announcing without any sort of basis, “It is even possible that while ice is too cold to support most life as we know it, it may have provided a suitable internal environment for prebiotic life to have emerged.” Well, if we’re going to throw out known science in favor of completely unsupportable ideas, then maybe it was the vacuum of space, or the superheated surface of the sun that provided the ideal conditions for life to evolve!

Any hint that there could have been an intelligent designer is “unscientific.”

“[W]hen life first emerged, it would have been using as a container something much simpler than today’s cell membrane, probably some sort of simple vesicle of the sort found in soap bubbles. This sort of vesicle can be found in abiotic systems today, both in hot conditions . . . [and] in the chemistry of sea ice.” That’s like saying car motors evolved, and support that “fact” because we can postulate a mechanism that hollow tree trunks could have housed motor parts before they evolved chassis and frames. Saying life evolved in ice, whether as a medium or a container, does nothing to answer the question of how such order and information could have randomly arranged itself!

We can’t help but conclude that the “scientific” speculation behind the godless version of the origin of life has sunk to yet another low. But don’t forget that any hint that there could have been an intelligent designer is “unscientific,” whereas this sort of scientific “research” passes for news these days with headlines like “Ice Films in Laboratory Reveal Mysteries of Universe.” And what’s ironic is that these scientists’ conclusion (perhaps life came from ice) is contradicted by the very same research, since its first, more logical (we’d say obvious) conclusion is that even if ice looks like life, that doesn’t mean it is!

If you know of anyone who is under the misapprehension that evolutionary scientists have any clue (as opposed to outlandish stories) how life originated, this is an ideal news release to disabuse them of that notion.


Remember, if you see a news story that might merit some attention, let us know about it! (Note: if the story originates from the Associated Press, Fox News, MSNBC, the New York Times, or another major national media outlet, we will most likely have already heard about it.) And thanks to all of our readers who have submitted great news tips to us.

(Please note that links will take you directly to the source. Answers in Genesis is not responsible for content on the websites to which we refer. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.)

Newsletter

Get the latest answers emailed to you.

Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

Learn more

  • Customer Service 800.778.3390