• Question: when is something alive

    Asked by therussian to Asif, Laura, Lena, Sean, Viv on 19 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Lena Ciric

      Lena Ciric answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      We have a definition of living things in biology. It describes the seven characteristics of all living things:
      1. Feeding
      2. Movement
      3. Respiration
      4. Excretion
      5. Growth
      6. Sensitivity to the environment
      7. Reproduction

    • Photo: Sean Murphy

      Sean Murphy answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      Good question. The characteristics Lena mentioned are what we use to define life here on earth. When/if we discover life on other planets we may have to change some of these characteristics. There are some people that believe that things like the sun can be classified as alive. What do you think?

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