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To: cccp_hater

Define life.


304 posted on 05/12/2006 5:54:31 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: jwalsh07

"Define Life"

That is a good point. There is no singular accepted definition of life though the commonly accepted biological definition of life requires that the subject manifests the following aspects: Reproduction, Response to stimuli Organization, Growth, Adaptation, and Metabolism.

There are few things on the line between life and non-life. A Virus, is often argued, to not be alive as it does not have the ability to reproduce on its own without a host's reproductive system. Crystals on the other hand grow but do not reproduce themselves either so are not considered alive.

One could possibly argue that the entire universe is itself "alive" though this falls quite outside the typical biological definition. Nothing in the universe is stagnant, change is a constant, so in that sense matter itself is "alive".


311 posted on 05/12/2006 6:09:37 PM PDT by cccp_hater (Just the facts please)
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