Lecture 13: What is Life?
How do we define life? This lecture reviews the six basic criteria\nfor living systems described by biologists: order, reproduction, growth and\ndevelopment, energy utilization, reaction to environment, and evolution\nthat characterize life. The last third of the lecture is an admittedly\nwhirlwind review of natural selection (I got off my stride and got a\nlittle rushed for time at the end). The goal is not a complete survey\nof current biological thought, but to highlight those characteristics of\n"life" that may best inform us as to how to look for signs of life\nelsewhere in the Universe. Recorded live on 2009 Oct 12 in Room 1005\nSmith Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.