# Exobiology **Domain:** Astrobiology / Life Detection / Origins **Doc Type:** Canonical Discipline Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Exobiology** is an earlier and still-used term for the scientific study of life's origin, distribution and possible existence beyond Earth; much of the field is now discussed under astrobiology. ## Nexus Context Joshua Lederberg promoted exobiological research and participated in NASA planning around planetary life detection. Questions about automatically inferring organic molecular structure helped motivate the DENDRAL collaboration. [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] uses this history to locate an origins-of-life problem near the beginning of applied AI. The problem was epistemic: what counts as evidence of life when observation is remote, data are partial and Earth assumptions may mislead? ## Machine-Intelligence Context Life detection and machine-person recognition share a caution. Operational criteria are necessary, but a criterion trained on familiar cases may exclude genuinely novel forms. Evidence thresholds must be revisable without becoming arbitrary. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "All art is metaphoric, language started gestural or metaphoric, we live by these, not merely by true false propositions and the syllogisms they enable." > **— Stuart A. Kauffman**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Human Thought Lives Beyond True-False Logic by Stuart A. Kauffman|Human Thought Lives Beyond True-False Logic by Stuart A. Kauffman]] > "If our future is to be long and prosperous, then we need to develop artificial intelligence systems, in the hope to transcend the planetary lifecycles in some sort of hybrid form of biology and machine." > **— Dimitar D. Sasselov**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Space Survival/Hybrid Intelligence Could Outlive Planetary Lifecycles by Dimitar D. Sasselov|Hybrid Intelligence Could Outlive Planetary Lifecycles by Dimitar D. Sasselov]] > "Rather than machines that think, I believe we are migrating toward a networked environment in which thinking is no longer a individual activity, nor bound by time and space." > **— Douglas Rushkoff**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Digital Life/Intelligence Is Migrating Into a Networked Environment by Douglas Rushkoff|Intelligence Is Migrating Into a Networked Environment by Douglas Rushkoff]] > "The advantages for space exploration are obvious: machines we build don't have to breathe, and they can withstand extreme temperatures and radiation environments." > **— John C. Mather**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Space Survival/Machines Can Survive Where Humans Cannot by John C. Mather|Machines Can Survive Where Humans Cannot by John C. Mather]] > "Consequently, if life on exoplanets is not extremely uncommon, we could discover some form of extrasolar life within about 30 years." > **— Mario Livio**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Space Survival/We May Discover Extrasolar Life Within Thirty Years by Mario Livio|We May Discover Extrasolar Life Within Thirty Years by Mario Livio]] ## Sources / Provenance - Nobel biography of Joshua Lederberg: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1958/lederberg/biographical/ - NASA Astrobiology: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ ## See Also [[wiki/Joshua Lederberg|Joshua Lederberg]], [[wiki/DENDRAL|DENDRAL]], [[wiki/Life Detection|Life Detection]], [[wiki/Recognition Threshold|Recognition Threshold]]