Yeah, in the hopes of this not being a candidate 'Great Filter' event I hope the scientists are dipping each ice form into a small cup of water before continuing on to the next stage.

Mine too.

It's not just the subject, but how the headline is presented, presumably quoting one of the involved researchers, ostensibly an expert on the subject:

"really strange"

That's both terrifying and comedic, a Vonnegut hallmark, really putting the "scare" into "scare quote".