Astral anthropology or xenoanthropology was an extension of the field of anthropology that studied aliens' physical and cultural development. USS Enterprise had an astral anthropology department. Aboard the USS Discovery in 2256, while trying to convince acting captain Saru that using the spore drive is harmful to Ripper, Michael Burnham tells him that she knows that they are in a crisis situation, and that his species was trained to be cautious. This is offensive to Saru, and he accuses her of treating him like one of her test subjects from a xenoanthropology experiment. (DIS: "Choose Your Pain")