Life
hideLife on Earth:
Life (cf. biota) is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining biological processes ("alive," "living"), from those which do not —either because such functions have ceased (death), or else because they lack such functions and are classified as "inanimate."
In biology, the science that studies living organisms, "life" is the condition which distinguishes active organisms from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, functional activity and the continual change preceding death. A diverse array of living organisms (life forms) can be found in the biosphere on Earth, and properties common to these organisms—plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria — are a carbon- and water-based cellular form with complex organization and heritable genetic information. Living organisms undergo metabolism, maintain homeostasis, possess a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce and, through natural selection, adapt to their environment in successive generations. More complex living organisms can communicate through various means.
In philosophy and religion, the conception and nature of life varies, and offer interpretations in the frameworks of existence and consciousness, and touch on many other related issues, such as, ontology, value, life stance, purpose, conceptions of God, the soul and the afterlife.
For more information about Life, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with life
How Did Evolution Begin?
Sep 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Life's ability to replicate itself is essential for evolution, yet even the simplest kind of replication requires a relatively complex system. So what kind of non-replicating system might ...
Virtual Worlds May Be the Future Setting of Scientific Collaboration
Aug 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Normally, virtual worlds are the setting of many online games and entertainment applications, but now they’re becoming a place for scientific collaboration and outreach, as well. A team of ...
The Origin of Artificial Species: Creating Artificial Personalities
Technology / Computer Sciences
May 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Does your robot seem to be acting a bit neurotic? Maybe it's just their personality. Recently, a team of researchers has designed computer-coded genomes for artificial creatures in which a ...
Mass Extinctions, Ancient Viruses May Hold Clues to Life’s Origins
Apr 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Mass extinctions occur repeatedly, though irregularly, throughout Earth’s history, and occasionally these extinctions have been devastating to life on our planet - or have they? Extinction ...
Why females live longer than males: is it due to the father's sperm?
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Researchers in Japan have found that female mice produced by using genetic material from two mothers but no father live significantly longer than mice with the normal mix of maternal and paternal genes. Their findings provide ...
Qualcomm's next e-book to use a mirasol display
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Qualcomm subsidiary Mirasol is developing a new e-book reader with a color display that uses ambient light. The reader will be capable of displaying video smoothly, but the new features will ...
Scientists Reproduce a Building Block of Life in Laboratory
Nov 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA scientists studying the origin of life have reproduced uracil, a key component of our hereditary material, in the laboratory.
Japanese car makers out to electrify Tokyo show
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Move over hybrids -- the biggest buzz at this year's Tokyo Motor Show looks set to come from electric cars as the dream of affordable zero-emission vehicles moves closer to reality.
Water Bears to Travel to Martian Moon, Test Theory of Transpermia
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny microscopic creatures commonly known as water bears (also called Tardigrades), along with a few other life forms, will be sent to the Martian moon Phobos to test whether organisms can ...
Most babies born this century will live to 100
Oct 01, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Most babies born in rich countries this century will eventually make it to their 100th birthday, new research says. Danish experts say that since the 20th century, people in developed countries are living about three ...
Study: Life and death during the Great Depression
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Sep 28, 2009 |
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The Great Depression had a silver lining: During that hard time, U.S. life expectancy actually increased by 6.2 years, according to a University of Michigan study published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the Na ...
Ancient oceans offer new insight into the origins of animal life
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Analysis of a rock type found only in the world's oldest oceans has shed new light on how large animals first got a foothold on the Earth.
Scientists propose new hypothesis on the origin of life
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 04, 2009 |
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The Miller-Urey experiment, conducted by chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey in 1953, is the classic experiment on the origin of life. It established that the early Earth atmosphere, as they pictured it, ...
Explosive growth of life on Earth fueled by early greening of planet
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 08, 2009 |
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Earth's 4.5-billion-year history is filled with several turning points when temperatures changed dramatically, asteroids bombarded the planet and life forms came and disappeared. But one of the biggest moments ...
Plants Save the Earth from an Icy Doom (w/ Podcast)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Fifty million years ago, the North and South Poles were ice-free and crocodiles roamed the Arctic. Since then, a long-term decrease in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has cooled the Earth. ...
