Exosciences

Triffid Nebula

Exopolitics is just one of a number of new 'exosciences,' which all deal with extraterrestrial life.

Astrobiology or exobiology or xenobiology (from wikipedia):

Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary field, combining aspects of astronomy, biology and geology, which is focused primarily on the study of the origin, distribution and evolution of life. It comes from the Greek words astron = star, bios = life and logos = word/science), and is also known as exobiology (Greek: exo = out) or xenobiology (Greek: xenos = foreign).

Some major astrobiological research topics include:
- What is life?
- How did life arise on Earth?
- What kind of environments can life tolerate?
- How can we determine if life exists on other planets?
- How often can we expect to find complex life?
- What will life consist of (DNA/Carbon based? Physiology?) on other planets?

Exobiology and xenobiology are terms also found in science fiction, although typically such terms refer to the speculative biology of an extraterrestrial. A xenobiologist is usually a human doctor or biologist who is expert on the physiology of alien organisms and life forms

 

Astrosociobiology or exosociobiology or xenosociology (from wikipedia):

Astrosociobiology (also referred to as exosociobiology and xenosociology) is the speculative scientific study of extraterrestrial civilizations and their possible social characteristics and developmental tendencies. The field involves the convergence of astrobiology, sociobiology and evolutionary biology. Hypothesized comparisons between human civilizations and those of extraterrestrials are frequently posited, placing the human situation in the same context as other extraterrestrial intelligences. Whenever possible, astrosociobiologists describe only those social characteristics that are thought to be common (or highly probable) to all civilizations. Thus far, it is entirely theoretical.