Search for Extraterrestrial Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Search for Extraterrestrial Life - Essay Example Forrest Gump even likens life to a box of chocolates! This gives us a lasting notion that it is very difficult to define life in a single dictionary meaning. There are efforts that try to delineate life from non-life to give us a clear perspective. In fact, the only planet that is capable of supporting life is the big blue one we are living in right now. What does earth possess that other planets, stars and cosmic bodies don't Is there yet an undiscovered life outside of earth Gradually, we can try and analyze the answers to these questions through an intense exploration of life and its characteristics. There are no definite properties of life. Authors have tried and listed ten or more observable properties that seem to adhere to the principles of physics, chemistry and mathematics. Harold J Morowitz pointed out six features on what life is simply based on. Living things are capable of "(1) reproduction; (2) growth; (3) metabolism; (4) movement; (5) responsiveness; and (6) adaptation" (242). It is indeed likely that these six characteristics are possessed by all living things because plants and animals reproduce following the law that reproduction only occurs within a species. Inanimate rocks do not reproduce instead they split up or break down to make smaller pieces. Even the littlest bacterium has a mechanism of splitting itself or combinatorial joining with another bacterium. Special plants can reproduce by budding their leaves to produce another organism separate from the original. Certainly, reproduction will not make sense if the progenies do not develop into a mature individ ual so it is very certain that development should follow. With growth, there is differentiation of the different cells into the supposed make-up of the whole organism. Every structure corresponds to its specific function. For example, the human eyes will develop into something capable of seeing and the legs into resilient limbs capable of running and balancing the whole body. Metabolism is defined as the "totality of an organism's chemical processes" (Campbell 83). This is a fusion of the chemical, physical and biological processes that occur within the organism to sustain life. In animals, this can include the digestion of food that would later be converted to energy, the breathing process, and the blood flow along the veins and arteries. For plants though, metabolism can be observed in the production of food from light energy termed as photosynthesis. Movement is a property is visibly manifested in animals and hardly noticeable in plants. This property can easily be misinterpreted because movement is not exclusive to living things. While animals move about freely to search for food, plants on the other hand make their own food so movement is unnecessary except for internal processes such as the exchange of food within cells. All living things also share the same property of responsiveness to a certain stimuli. This can be used as a mechanism of defense or a simple reaction to a chemical attractant. This property is very important for the living organism's to respond to the different changes in the environment. Lastly, living organisms that have the ability to reproduce, develop, move, use up energy and respond to the environment must learn how to adapt in various conditions to allow them to survive in