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Eco-physiological processes are expressing the interaction of organisms within an environmental context of their habitat and their degree of adaptation, level of resistance as well as the limits of life in a changing environment. The present study focuses on observations achieved by methods used in this scientific discipline of “Ecophysiology” and to enlarge the scientific context in a broader range of understanding with universal character. The present eco-physiological work is building the basis for classifying and exploring the degree of habitability of another planet like Mars by a bio-driven experimentally approach. It offers also new ways of identifying key-molecules which are playing a specific role in physiological processes of tested organisms to serve as well as potential biosignatures in future space exploration missions with the goal to search for life. This has important implications for the new emerging scientific field of Astrobiology. Astrobiology addresses the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. The three fundamental questions which are hidden behind this definition are: how does life begin and evolve? Is there life beyond Earth and, if so, how can we detect it? What is the future of life on Earth and in the universe? It means that this multidisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System. It comprises the search for the evidence of prebiotic chemistry and life on Mars and other bodies in our Solar System like the icy moons of the Jovian and Saturnian system, laboratory and field research into the origins and early evolution of life on Earth, and studies of the potential for life to adapt to challenges on Earth and in space. For this purpose an integrated research strategy was applied, which connects field research, laboratory research allowing planetary simulation experiments with investigation enterprises performed in space (particularly performed in the low Earth Orbit.
The F-type star KIC. 8462852 has recently been identified as an exceptional target for search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) observations. We describe an analysis methodology for optical SETI, which we have used to analyze nine hours of serendipitous archival observations of KIC. 8462852 made with the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory between 2009 and 2015. No evidence of pulsed optical beacons, above a pulse intensity at the Earth of approximately 1 photon m(-2), is found. We also discuss the potential use of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays in searching for extremely short duration optical transients in general.