Scientists have debated the definition of life for decades, but they still lack a consensus on the answer. Experts believe that "edge cases" make life difficult to define and blur boundaries across ...

A central question of astrobiology concerns the origin and distribution of life in the Universe. For this reason, astrobiology can be considered to fall within the science called transitional biology.

What is life? Like most great questions, this one is easy to ask but difficult to answer. Scientists have been trying for centuries, and philosophers have done so for millennia. Today our knowledge is ...

Biologists have been unable to agree on a definition of the complex phenomenon known as “life.” In a special collection of essays in Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., ...

We do not yet know how, where, or why life first appeared on our planet. Part of the difficulty is that "life" has no strict, universally agreed-upon definition. Normally this is not an issue, as the ...

This story is a collaboration between Science Friday and KHN. It was written by Sarah Varney. Credit: Eric Harkleroad, KHN illustration; Getty Images; Unsplash. As life-preserving medical technology ...