Exomorphic Catalysis: A Discipline Dedicated to Energetic Disequilibria and the Activation of Life-Potential in Non-Terrestrial Environments
The search for life beyond Earth has long been guided by two dominant paradigms: astrobiology, which seeks environments capable of supporting life as we know it, and planetary engineering, which envisions the large-scale alteration of extraterrestrial environments to mimic terrestrial conditions.
Both approaches, while valuable, remain constrained by anthropocentric assumptions. This white paper introduces exomorphic catalysis as a new scientific discipline dedicated to the study of how extraterrestrial worlds activate and sustain life-potential conditions through their intrinsic geophysical and geochemical processes.
Exomorphic catalysis is grounded in three pillars: catalytic activation of natural systems, the role of energetic disequilibria as the fundamental driver of prebiotic chemistry, and strict non-inoculative ethics that prohibit contamination with terrestrial biology.
Comparative case studies from Enceladus, Europa, Titan, and Ganymede demonstrate that activation pathways are diverse yet unified by their ability to sustain persistent disequilibria across scales and contexts. Six falsifiable hypotheses define the exomorphic catalysis research agenda, each directly testable through near-term missions such as Europa Clipper and JUICE, as well as through laboratory analog experiments and long-baseline astronomical observations.
The broader impacts of exomorphic catalysis extend across scientific domains. In astrobiology, it expands the criteria for habitability beyond terrestrial analogues. In planetary astronomy, it provides comparative models for interpreting exoplanetary disequilibria. In planetary engineering, it reframes discussions of sustainability by emphasizing the amplification of intrinsic processes.
In Earth sciences, it enriches understanding of hydrothermal cycling, tectonics, and magnetism, while in climate science, it contextualizes global change within a universal framework of planetary stability and collapse. This paper argues that exomorphic catalysis warrants recognition as a distinct discipline within the space sciences. By combining rigorous hypothesis-testing with interdisciplinary impact, exomorphic catalysis establishes a framework for understanding how worlds themselves catalyze the energetic conditions that underlie life-potential.
Exomorphic Catalysis: A Discipline Dedicated to Energetic Disequilibria and the Activation of Life-Potential in Non-Terrestrial Environments, eartharxiv.org
Astrobiology,
