Exobiology

Welcome to the Wikiversity Center for Exobiology, part of the School of Biology.

Exobiology, also known as xenobiology or astrobiology, is a speculative field within biology concerned with extraterrestrial life.

The Center for Exobiology is a Wikiversity content development project where participants create, organize and develop learning resources about the search for life beyond Earth.

=Where are the data?= Astrobiology is an idea in search of data. Many scientists expect that life is common, probably having come into existence on millions of planets. However, astrobiology is a speculative field within biology; nobody has evidence for extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology includes the concept of artificial life, since any life form with human-like intelligence could conceivably create artificial life in a laboratory. Such artificial life might be more suitable than a biological organism for interstellar travel. While currently funded efforts in astrobiology focus on planetary exploration and attempts to detect planets with Earth-like atmospheres, it has been suggested that we should also look closely at Earth for signs that alien artificial life is already here.

Possible data

 * Search for life on Mars
 * Liquid water on Europa
 * Replacement of phosphorus by arsenic in living organisms

Learning resources

 * The Drake Equation
 * can human like intelligence evolve under water?
 * can comets incubate life and seed it to planets?