Extraterrestrial life

:This article is about the scientific study of extraterrestrial life; for treatment in popular culture, see Extraterrestrial life in popular culture.

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Extraterrestrial life is life that may exist and originate outside our planet Earth. Its existence is currently hypothetical: there is as yet no evidence of extraterrestrial life that has been widely accepted by scientists.

Related Topics:
Life - Earth

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Speculative forms of extraterrestrial life range from humanoid and monstrous beings seen in works of science fiction to life at the much smaller scale of bacteria and viruses.

Related Topics:
Humanoid - Science fiction - Bacteria - Virus

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Extraterrestrial life forms, especially intelligent ones, are often referred to in popular culture as aliens or ETs. The putative study and theorisation of ET life is known as astrobiology or xenobiology.

Related Topics:
Aliens - Astrobiology - Xenobiology

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Most scientists hold that if extraterrestial life exists, its evolution would have occurred independently in different places in the universe. An alternative hypothesis, held by a minority, is panspermia, which suggests that life in the universe could have stemmed from a single initial distribution of spores that provide the basis for living beings to develop. If true, this theory would suggest that life in various forms might exist throughout the universe.

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