6 Minute English / Ice and the origins of life on Earth

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Sam.

And I m Neil.

Have you ever made a snowman or enjoyed a cold drink on a hot summer s day? Slippery in winter and cooling in summer, ice is made when water gets so cold it freezes. But there s much more to ice than skiing holidays and cold drinks.

Yes, in an exciting discovery, the James Webb Space Telescope recently detected the coldest ices ever in outer space, something Nasa scientists think could explain the origins of life on Earth.

For years scientists have debated how life started on our planet. Billions of years ago, long before the dinosaurs, animals or even plants existed, the Earth had a watery environment of oxygen-free gases and chemicals known as the primordial soup. It had the potential for life to develop, but something was missing.

So how did we jump from the primordial soup to the first living plants, animals, and eventually humans? And how does ice fit into the story? That s what we ll be finding out in this programme, and as usual, we ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

But first I have a question for you, Neil. We know ice is frozen water, but do you know the chemical symbol for water? Is it:a) H2O ?b) HO2 ? orc) H2O2 ?

Well, I really hope I get this right. I think the answer is H2O.

OK. We ll find out or check if you re right later in the programme. Astronomer, Professor Melissa McClure, worked with the Nasa scientists who found ice on Europa, one of Jupiter s moons. Here she explains to BBC World Service programme, Science in Action, one theory linking ice to the beginnings of life on Earth.