That which doesn’t replicate? (I believe this is why scientists cannot decide if viruses are alive since, even though they can replicate, they can’t do it on their own.)
You might agree with morgantj, traveler, that lifeless is opposite of life, but you still need to explain what it is that defines life and lifelessness (is that a word?). And that’s the ability (or inability) to replicate.
Death, according to wiki is: Death is the cessation of the biological functions that define living organisms. When did a rock have any biological functions?
You might agree with morgantj, traveler, that lifeless is opposite of life, but you still need to explain what it is that defines life and lifelessness (is that a word?). And that’s the ability (or inability) to replicate.
Ok, life is the intrinsic quality of any living thing (duh) . A living thing is made of cells, and these units of living matter all share the same machinery for their most basic functions. From here, I can only recommend something like “Molecular Biology of The Cell” by Alberts, Johnson, Lewis, et al.
A rock will cease to exist. Just like the sun will, a galaxy, and possibly the whole universe. We are not different from rocks because we live or die, we are, once again, different because we replicate and they don’t.
Death is not defined as ceasing to exist. Besides, the things you mention do NOT cease to exist. They break down into smaller pieces. Matter is conserved.
“Life” is terribly hard to define. Mules don’t reproduce by we consider them alive. And even if reproduction is a necessary property of life, it doesn’t seem to be a sufficient one. Otherwise computer code could be considered alive.
. A living thing is made of cells, and these units of living matter all share the same machinery for their most basic functions. From here, I can only recommend something like “Molecular Biology of The Cell” by Alberts, Johnson, Lewis, et al.
