Life Is A Characteristic That Distinguishes

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Life is a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological processes, such as signaling and self-

sustaining processes, from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (they have died), or because they
never had such functions and are classified as inanimate. Various forms of life exist, such
as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria. Biology is the science concerned with the study of life.
There is currently no consensus regarding the definition of life. One popular definition is that organisms are open
systems that maintain homeostasis, are composed of cells, have a life cycle, undergo metabolism, can grow, adapt to their
environment, respond to stimuli, reproduce and evolve. Other definitions sometimes include non-cellular life forms such
as viruses and viroids.
Abiogenesis is the natural process of life arising from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing
scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities was not a single event, but a gradual process of
increasing complexity. Life on Earth first appeared as early as 4.28 billion years ago, soon after ocean formation 4.41 billion
years ago, and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago.[1][2][3][4] The earliest known life forms are
microfossils of bacteria.[5][6] Researchers generally think that current life on Earth descends from an RNA world,
[7]
 although RNA-based life may not have been the first life to have existed.[8][9] The classic 1952 Miller–Urey experiment and
similar research demonstrated that most amino acids, the chemical constituents of the proteins used in all living organisms,
can be synthesized from inorganic compounds under conditions intended to replicate those of the early Earth.
Complex organic molecules occur in the Solar System and in interstellar space, and these molecules may have
provided starting material for the development of life on Earth.[10][11][12][13]
Since its primordial beginnings, life on Earth has changed its environment on a geologic time scale, but it has also adapted
to survive in most ecosystems and conditions. Some microorganisms, called extremophiles, thrive in physically or
geochemically extreme environments that are detrimental to most other life on Earth. The cell is considered the structural
and functional unit of life.[14][15] There are two kinds of cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic, both of which consist
of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane and contain many biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. Cells
reproduce through a process of cell division, in which the parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells.
In the past, there have been many attempts to define what is meant by "life" through obsolete concepts such as odic
force, hylomorphism, spontaneous generation and vitalism, that have now been disproved by biological
discoveries. Aristotle is considered to be the first person to classify organisms. Later, Carl Linnaeus introduced his
system of binomial nomenclature for the classification of species. Eventually new groups and categories of life were
discovered, such as cells and microorganisms, forcing dramatic revisions of the structure of relationships between living
organisms. Though currently only known on Earth, life need not be restricted to it, and many scientists speculate in the
existence of extraterrestrial life. Artificial life is a computer simulation or human-made reconstruction of any aspect of life,
which is often used to examine systems related to natural life.
Death is the permanent termination of all biological functions which sustain an organism, and as such, is the end of its
life. Extinction is the term describing the dying out of a group or taxon, usually a species. Fossils are the preserved remains
or traces of organisms.

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