re: Could life have started in a lump of ice?
Found an interesting summary of the search for interstellar and meteoric organics, up to 2005: http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FIAU%2FIAU1_S231%2FS1743921306007496a.pdf&code=07bc05de00b9fb1def0a6e06d5ccf9fa
Whats interesting is that the amino acid glycine has been detected in interstellar space, but the evidence suggests only amino acid precursors can form in interstellar ice particles.