Wednesday, May 13, 2009

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my friends of uk




Definition of life
Does anyone know what is currently the most accepted idea
on the characteristics needed for any kind of life?
Chris E Lee

I assume since no one has answered your question in nearly a
month that no one has a sufficient answer for you, so I'll take
a crack at it. As far as I know, most of the accepted criteria
for determining whether something is "alive" can also, at
least individually, be applied to non-living things -- it's
kind of difficult to say. The main points I can think of at
the moment are:

MOTION -- does it seem to move under its own power? Does it move
with some discernible purpose? (Toward food, away from heat, etc)

REPRODUCTION -- does it have some way of making more of itself,
either through sexual reproduction or by budding or fissioning in
some way?

CONSUMPTION -- does it eat or drink? Does it take in nutrients
in one way or another in order to survive, grow, and eventually
multiply?

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