Life is a characteristic distinguishing physical entities having biological processes,

such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from those that do not, either
because such functions have ceased, 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. The criteria can at times be ambiguous and may or
may not define viruses, viroids or potential artificial life as living. Biology is the
primary science concerned with the study of life, although many other sciences are
involved.

The definition of life is controversial. The current definition is that organisms

maintain homeostasis, are composed of cells, undergo metabolism, can grow, adapt
to their environment, respond to stimuli, and reproduce. However, many other
biological definitions have been proposed, and there are also some borderline
cases, such as viruses. Biophysicists have also proposed some definitions, many
being based on chemical systems. There are also some living systems theories,
such as the Gaia hypothesis, the idea that the Earth is alive; the former first
developed by James Grier Miller. Another one is that life is the property of ecological
systems, and yet another is the complex systems biology, a branch or subfield of
mathematical biology. Some other systemic definitions includes the theory involving
the darwinian dynamic, and the operator theory. However, throughout history, there
have been many other theories and definitions about life such as materialism, the
belief that everything is made out of matter and that life is merely a complex form
of it; hylomorphism, the belief that all things are a combination of matter and form,
and the form of a living thing is its soul; spontaneous generation, the belief that life
repeatedly emerge from non-life; and vitalism, a discredited scientific hypothesis
that living organisms possess a "life force" or "vital spark". Abiogenesis is the
natural process of life arising from non-living matter, such as simple organic
compounds. Life on Earth arose 3.8-4.1 billion years ago. It is widely accepted that
current life on Earth descended from an RNA world, but RNA based life may not
have been the first. The mechanism by which life began on Earth is unknown,
although many hypotheses have been formulated, most based on the MillerUrey
experiment.

Since appearing, life on Earth has changed its environment on a geologic time
scale. To survive in most ecosystems, life can adapt and thrive in a wide range of
conditions. Some organisms, called extremophiles, can thrive in physically or
geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to most other life on Earth.
Properties common to all organisms are the need for certain core chemical elements
needed for biochemical functioning. Aristotle was the first person to classify
organisms. Later, Carl Linnaeus introduced his system of binomial nomenclature for
the classification of species. Fungi was later classified as its own kingdom.
Eventually new groups of life were revealed, such as cells and microorganisms, and
even non-cellular reproducing agents, such as viruses and viroids. Cells are the
smallest units of life, often called the "building blocks of life". There are two kind of

cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic. Cells consist of cytoplasm enclosed within a

membrane, which contains 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.

Though only confirmed on Earth, many believe in the existence of extraterrestrial

life. Artificial life is a computer simulation of any aspect of life, which is used to
examine systems related to 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 process by which a group of taxa, normally a species, dies out. Fossils are the
preserved remains or traces of organisms.