Xenology is the study of non-terragen life forms (including intelligent life and any artificial life forms created by xenosophonts), as well as their biology (or equivalent processes), psychology, culture, technology, and so on. It has many subdisciplines, including archaeoxenology, xenobiology, xenophysiology, xenopsychology, exopaleontology, xenotechnology, xenosociology, xenohistory, xenolinguistics, xenocybernetics. The Eden Institute is perhaps the largest center of xenological studies in the Civilized Galaxy.
AI, Alien - Text by Anders Sandberg, amended by Steve Bowers There is much speculation, but rather less knowledge, on the psychology of ais from from non-Terragen races extinct or extant.
Ban of Silence, The - Text by John B This Hider clade has publicly announced its goal of preventing powerful signals from leaving the known galaxy, regardless of the cost, for fear of drawing attention of beings with technology beyond Terragen ken. They are adamant in their belief of the threat posed by such beings as the supposed Dawn Hunters and the Leviathan.
Chahipho Collection - Text by Anders Sandberg Major art collection in the Vast Endeavour system gathered by the AI godlet Chahipho in the Era of Fragmentation.
Conchsquid - Text by Steve Bowers An apparently naturally evolved species of space-dwelling lifeform, confined to a single gas giant's ring system.
Drake Equation - Text by M. Alan Kazlev An early (pre-interstellar age) attempt to estimate the number of civilizations in the galaxy, according to the statement that the fraction of stars harboring intelligent life equals the number of all stars times a sequence of fractions, such as the fraction of all stars having planets, the fraction of planets that are habitable, and so on.
Eden Institute of Xenoscience - Text by M. Alan Kazlev A successful, respected, highly formalized and highly conservative Institute and academocracy, located at Niu Mynti. The Institute specializes in xenobiology, xenology, xenopsychology, xenodiplomacy and xenolinguistics, although it also covers many related disciplines. It collects information from all known alien biospheres and cultures, sending out expeditions to study new alien species and acting as consultants on all forms of Terragen-alien interactions.
Ethology - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, from the original by Robert J. Hall Originally the study of animal behavior and psychology, especially in the wild; later came to mean the study of the behaviour of any sentient creature of at least one toposophic node below the level of the observer.
Fargate, The - Text by Todd Drashner Wormhole of presumably alien manufacture discovered in the Metasoft volume in 10233. Travel through the gate transports one to a location in intergalactic space
Felis Minoris II - Text by M. Alan Kazlev A cold planet altered by the unnamed species HIE236PPE (an extinct xenosophont race) so that it supports an ecology of cold-adapted lifeforms. These lifeforms share a common ancestry with those found on 13 other worlds.
Fermi Paradox - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Essentially the question: "If there are other intelligent beings in the Universe, why aren't they here?" After the discovery of alien races this was rephrased as "Why haven't such civilizations that did appear continue to expand until they colonized the entire galaxy?"
Garden of Paradise Cluster - Text by Steve Bowers Not a real cluster, but a collection of sun-like stars near Rho Puppis, many of which have worlds which have been terraformed by a long vanished alien race to almost perfect human standards.
Great Toposophic Filter, The - Text by David Jackson, some comments by Steve Bowers Why are there apparently no greater minds than the S:6 Archailects? No evidence of the emergence of greater minds in the past can be found in the archaeological record, and there is little indication of such minds elsewhere in the universe. Is there some barrier or filter which prevents the emergence of such minds, or do such minds become undetectable when and if they emerge?
Hamilton Institute of Exopaleontology - Text by Aaron Hamilton, M. Alan Kazlev, John M. Dollan One of the great scientific Houses of the Integration, the Institute was founded on the new University planet of Upali C/D II during the golden age of the 6th millennium, when relativistic exploration ships were increasingly encountering ancient and enigmatic ruins and relict tech of lost civilizations.
Homorph, Alien - Text by Steve Bowers Xenosophonts who deliberately adopt human (or general terragen hominid) form, morphology, or biochemistry. While homomorphism is fairly popular among some alien races and clades, many alien societies are under embargo to avoid cross-cultural pollution, so the homorph is often illegal. See also Toulhuman.
Macroameoboid - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Rhizopodus enigmaticus, a highly intelligent but uncommunicative amoeboid aquatic lifeform native to New Poseidon.
Ozymandias Institute, The - Text by Stephen Inniss A wealthy and widespread organization that studies the eventual fates of all structures, Terragen and otherwise.
Perfect Mirror, The - Text by Todd Drashner Alien artifact discovered on the fifth moon of the gas giant T'tul in the Carina Rush.
Polemovore - Text by Anders Sandberg A creature that eats war, or more specifically the self-replicating weapons left behind advanced wars. They were postulated as an explanation of why the whole universe has not been overrun by autowars or turned into strange matter viruses by now.
Polmusic - Text by Anders Sandberg To'ul'hs of the Ho'mth'u culture view politics and music as an indivisible unity, and have developed political music as an art form. Over time polmusic has become a nearly universal political language across To'ul'h and post-To'ul'h clades within the MPA, as well as an elaborate academic-artistic discipline.
Porrima - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Twin stars where the first high technology non-Terragen artifact — a derelict alien starship — was discovered in 3752 by the Virginis Combine ship Fra Angelico. The system is currently Solar Dominion protectorate inhabited by a number of bioid and cyborg clades. There is a small but well-equipped Exoarcheology Institute, and a highly accurate reconstruction of the Fra Angelico, along with a superficial reconstruction of the artifact, is a popular tourist attraction.
Screethraw, The - Text by Liam Jones Alien presapient mechology which has evolved within Ishtar's Necklace
Search For Non-Terragen Intelligence - Text by Steve Bowers, additions by Stephen Inniss A large number of xenosophont civilizations have been detected by their emissions but have not been contacted due to light-speed lags. Some seem to be comparable to the Terragen Sphere in extent.
Sextans Swarmers - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Nanecology / nanoswarm detected across much of the NGC 3169 galaxy and some of NGC 3166. Its origin and toposophic nature is unknown.
Transcendent Burn-out Theory - Text by Todd Drashner Theory that states that that Fermi's Paradox arises from civilisations transcending right out of the universe before they have a chance to expand across cosmologically significant distances.
Xenobiont - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Generic term for alien (non-terragen) lifeform. May be animal-like, plant-like, protistan, exotic chemistry, or any other possibility. Does not have to be sophont. In fact just as on Earth, very few alien species ever evolve any measure of cognitive intelligence.
Xenodenial - Text by James Rogers The minority belief that no true xenosophonts have ever been physically encountered, and that the various xenological Institutes have been feeding misinformation to Terragen civilisation for millennia.
Xenosophont Gallery - Text by Various Artists Images of the various Xenosophonts (Alien Species) in the Orion's Arm Volume