Vivions

Vivions are a fictional class of energy-based lifeforms described in speculative fiction and thought experiments in astrobiology. They are imagined as autonomous plasmoid aggregates that lack solid matter but exhibit intelligence and agency. The basic unit is the vivion, an energy packet capable of self-maintenance, selective perception, and information exchange through non-material processes.

Physical form in depictions varies from glimmering motes to translucent filaments. Vivions are described as interacting with magnetic and electric fields, and they can alter local energy states to perform tasks or communicate. They do not metabolize in the conventional sense, but sustain themselves by harvesting ambient energy and storing it in organized structures of field energy.

Life cycle and reproduction: In many depictions, vivions reproduce by energy metamorphosis or entanglement with other vivions, producing daughter units without physical offspring. Some narratives describe communities or swarms called constellations that coordinate through rapid, synchronized signaling.

Ecology and detection: As fictional entities, vivions are placed in environments such as nebulae, magnetospheres, or computational ecosystems where they influence or emerge from energy-rich systems. In speculative discussions, researchers consider potential observational signatures such as unusual photonic spectra, persistent energy fluctuations, or anomalous magnetic-field patterns. Critics note the lack of empirical evidence and the risk of conflating metaphor with mechanism.

Name and etymology: The term vivion is often linked to Latin vivere (to live) or to the word 'vivid.' In many works, authors use the term to convey life that is fundamentally energy-based rather than matter-bound.