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Speculative evolution is a subgenre of science fiction and an artistic movement focused on hypothetical scenarios in the evolution of life, and a significant form of fictional biology. [1] It is also known as speculative biology [ 2 ] and it is referred to as speculative zoology [ 3 ] in regards to hypothetical animals . [ 1 ]
Xenobiology (XB) is a subfield of synthetic biology, the study of synthesizing and manipulating biological devices and systems. [1] The name "xenobiology" derives from the Greek word xenos, which means "stranger, alien". Xenobiology is a form of biology that is not (yet) familiar to science and is not found in nature. [2]
Nucleic acids may not be the only biomolecules in the universe capable of coding for life processes. [1]Astrobiology (also xenology or exobiology) is a scientific field within the life and environmental sciences that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe by investigating its deterministic conditions and contingent events. [2]
The possibility of life-forms being based on "alternative" biochemistries is the topic of an ongoing scientific discussion, informed by what is known about extraterrestrial environments and about the chemical behaviour of various elements and compounds. It is of interest in synthetic biology and is also a common subject in science fiction.
Ward and Brownlee argue that the universe is fundamentally hostile to complex life and that while microbial life may be common in the universe, complex intelligent life (like the evolution of biological complexity from simple life on Earth) requires an exceptionally unlikely set of circumstances, and therefore complex life is likely to be extremely rare.
In its review of Evolving the Alien, the London Review of Books commented that Cohen and Stewart's speculative approach is useful in exposing errors in conventional thinking, and is "painlessly educative" on the current state of the applicable sciences, but criticized their "naive optimism" with respect to future technological breakthroughs in human space travel.
A wheeled buffalo figurine—probably a children's toy—from Magna Graecia in archaic Greece [1]. Several organisms are capable of rolling locomotion. However, true wheels and propellers—despite their utility in human vehicles—do not play a significant role in the movement of living things (with the exception of certain flagella, which work like corkscrews).
Speculative fiction commonly portrays non-avian dinosaurs with humans. Examples include The Flintstones , in which Stone Age humans have dinosaurs as pets and transportation, and the comic series The Cavern Clan , in which the protagonist is a caveman who hunts dinosaurs, as well as in the comic strip Alley Oop .