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Topic · Astronomy and Astrophysics

Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life is a research topic within Astronomy and Astrophysics. Science Explorer counts 24k research works in it since 1950. 10.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence, including topics such as astrobiology, SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), galactic habitable zones, global catastrophic risks, the Fermi Paradox, planetary biology, technosignatures, and space exploration.

  • Extraterrestrial Life
  • Astrobiology
  • SETI
  • Galactic Habitable Zone
  • Intelligent Life
  • Global Catastrophic Risks
  • Fermi Paradox
  • Planetary Biology
  • Technosignatures
  • Space Exploration
Research works
24k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+18%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
41% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

Which countries lead Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (1.5k and 479 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 1.5k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 479 works
  3. 3 China 309 works
  4. 4 France 266 works
  5. 5 India 237 works
  6. 6 Germany 224 works
  7. 7 Italy 212 works
  8. 8 Australia 175 works
  9. 9 Russia 169 works
  10. 10 Canada 146 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 41.1%United Kingdom: 12.7%China: 8.2%France: 7.1%6 others listed: 30.9%41%largest
United States1,545 · 41.1%United Kingdom479 · 12.7%China309 · 8.2%France266 · 7.1%6 others listed1,163 · 30.9%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 72 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 55 works
  3. 3 National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationUnited States 52 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 49 works
  5. 5 California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 39 works
  6. 6 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 33 works
  7. 7 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasSpain 24 works
  8. 8 Arizona State UniversityUnited States 23 works
  9. 9 European Space AgencyFrance 21 works
  10. 10 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 20 works

Who are the leading researchers in Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life include Michael Snyder, Albert-Ĺaszló Barabási and Eugene V. Koonin.

  1. 1 Michael Snyder United States 224k citations
  2. 2 Albert-Ĺaszló Barabási United States 223k citations
  3. 3 Eugene V. Koonin United States 217k citations
  4. 4 Michel Foucault France 208k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life?

The most cited paper in Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life is "The Tragedy of the Commons" (Garrett Hardin, 1968), with 23,379 citations. Next come "The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception" (23,143) and "A safe operating space for humanity" (13,302).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Tragedy of the Commons Garrett Hardin · Science 13 Dec 1968 23,379
2 The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception Marc H. Bornstein, James J. Gibson · Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 1980 23,143
3 A safe operating space for humanity Johan Rockström et al. · Nature Open access 23 Sep 2009 13,302
4 Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity Johan Rockström et al. · Ecology and Society Open access 2009 7,171
5 The Machine That Changed the World Bernard M. Wolf · Journal of International Business Studies Sep 1991 4,765
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life research done?

The largest centres of Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), Paris (France) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Pasadena.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 115 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 106 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 104 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 97 works
  5. 5 Washington D.C.United States 63 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 60 works
  7. 7 RomeItaly 60 works
  8. 8 TokyoJapan 45 works
  9. 9 Los AngelesUnited States 44 works
  10. 10 SydneyAustralia 43 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. PasadenaUS · 43.0 works19×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life than the world average.

See Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life on the map

Where is the best place to study Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life?

Among universities, judged by research, California Institute of Technology, Swinburne University of Technology and University of Colorado Boulder score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 24.47%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Swinburne University…University of Colora…California Institute…University of Oxford
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 76.024.0%24.1×39 +0.8%
2Swinburne University of TechnologyAustralia 74.735.1%11.0×14 +121.4%
3University of Colorado BoulderUnited States 72.129.3%8.9×18 -6.0%
4University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 68.012.8%5.2×33 +11.2%
5Stockholm UniversitySweden 66.026.1%7.6×12 +538.7%
6University of ExeterUnited Kingdom 64.733.7%5.0×10 +20.3%
7Sorbonne UniversitéFrance 64.122.9%3.5×11 +80.3%
8Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom 63.027.2%9.0×15 +100.3%
9University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 60.116.8%4.7×18 +76.5%
10University of ArizonaUnited States 59.016.8%6.1×18 +50.5%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life, country by country

Is Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 18% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.023% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life0.022% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life11.3% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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