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Category
Extraterrestrial life
Summary
Extraterrestrial life or alien life is life which may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms such as prokaryotes to intelligent beings, possibly bringing forth civilizations that might be far more advanced than humanity. The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in the universe. The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology.
Speculation about the possibility of inhabited worlds beyond Earth dates back to antiquity. Early Christian writers discussed the idea of a "plurality of worlds" as proposed by earlier thinkers such as Democritus; Augustine references Epicurus's idea of innumerable worlds "throughout the boundless immensity of space" (originally expressed in his Letter to Herodotus) in The City of God. In his first-century poem De rerum natura (Book 2:1048–1076), the Epicurean philosopher Lucretius predicted that humanity would find innumerable exoplanets with life-forms similar to, and different from, the ones on Earth, and even other races of man.
Pre-modern writers typically assumed extraterrestrial "worlds" are inhabited by living beings. William Vorilong, in the 15th century, acknowledged the possibility that Jesus could have visited extraterrestrial worlds to redeem their inhabitants. Nicholas of Cusa wrote in 1440 that Earth is "a brilliant star" like other celestial objects visible in space, which would appear similar to the Sun from an exterior perspective due to a layer of "fiery brightness" in the outer layer of the atmosphere. He theorised all extraterrestrial bodies could be inhabited by men, plants, and animals, including the Sun. Descartes wrote that there was no means to prove that the stars were not inhabited by "intelligent creatures", but their existence was a matter of speculation. The writings of these individuals demonstrate interest in extraterrestrial life has existed throughout history, although only recently have humans have had any means of investigating it.
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