April 27th, Day 27 and we are on X is for Xenology…what?
Alien pic courtesy of wikipedia- and alien protest (http://bit.ly/IIOEqV)
Xenology- does mean the study of the relationship between parasites and their hosts, but this is not the Xenology I am talking about. This is the one: Xenology- (chiefly in sci-fi) The scientific study of extraterrestrials, esp. their biology. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/xenology)
Xenology, the xeno-based terminology was first coined for this usage by the renowned science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein (starting in The Star Beast, Scribner, New York, 1954
Xenobiology- is the study of alien lifeforms.
Aliens have always been a fascination to many, so why wouldn’t it be incorporated into the realm of sci-fy? Life beyond Earth is a strong possibility and what is out there is the biggest question. There are so many theories and so little facts. Aliens have been pictured in so many forms, what exactly would one look like is still a puzzle to us. Aliens in sci-fi, I would think the sky is not the limit there. If there is a term to a study, the item has been studied. I am sure aliens and alien life have been studied to the extreme in deed!
The unknown is always a fascination as well as a fear. Not knowing has sent many to frightening levels of fear (remember Orson Wells’- War of the worlds broadcast?) and have sent others to levels of imagination. Did you know there are about 25,000 sci-fy books in the Amazon Kindle Genre alone? I typed Alien and it narrowed it down to 1300 with alien in the description alone…I bet there is more. Movies, we all know Aliens, Predator, how about recently War of the Worlds or even Aliens vs. Cowboys. What a combo that one was! Signs…oh my goodness!
I am sure if you check the TV guide and find something on Alien life or crop circles broadcasting right about now or just about to. Aliens are they real or are they not? We don’t know and this is why we study about them. Why we are fascinated by them and sometimes even obsessed. Xenology and Xenobiology is quite a study…you google it and you will find a lot under those two terms alone. Two articles and by the same man I might add, seemed tobe to be very factual and wow, interesting! It’s long ,so I am doing you a favor of simply posting the links. It is interesting and something to chomp on. Alien life outside of Earth very well could just be in Superman form, or the Green Lanterns or even just a Mega Mind…let’s hope, they’re not so scary. Until we know the truth, or according to X-files…allow ourselves to see the truth is out there…we shall remain ignorant and happy being that way. (I secretly am) Still it never hurts to study up…
Now an even scarier thought, how much does a xenobiologist make? And is there a large demand for them?
Xenobiology-according to Robert A. Freitas Jr- http://www.xenology.info/Papers/Xenobiology.htm
Extraterrestrial Zoology (xenology) according to Robert A. Freitas Jr- http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_alien/xenology/papers_xeno/et_zoology.htm
Some Alien books- http://amzn.to/JKp2Lk
Orson Wells -War of the Worlds info: http://bit.ly/ayYC6Y
Happy A to Z Blogging and Alien studying,
A.D.
P.S. Remember if your still scared there is always the MIB. I am sure Will Smith has got our backs :0)
Tagged: alien books, alien movies, alien study, alien stuff, aliens, AtoZChallenge, xenobiology, xenology
