It looks like ice.

But there's a problem.

It contains methane.

And under the right conditions, you can actually light it on fire.

Deep beneath the ocean floor, pressure and temperature can force water molecules to form cage-like crystals around methane gas.

The result is methane hydrate—an extraordinary ice-like material that can hold a huge amount of gas inside a solid structure.

INTRO

Imagine sending a drilling operation hundreds of meters beneath the ocean.

The water above is cold.

The pressure is enormous.

And buried inside the sediment is something that looks almost exactly like ordinary ice.

But this isn't frozen water.

It's a crystal structure made from water molecules with methane trapped inside.

Methane hydrate.

And when that material reaches lower-pressu ...