Can someone help answer these questions ? And cite any sources used ? net/mod/hs

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Can someone help answer these questions ? And cite any sources used ?

net/mod/hsuforum/view.php?id-2571886 NGLISH - UNITED STATES (EN US) Week 2 Critical Thinking Exercise The mechanisms behind the origin of life have been postulated and debated ad inf finitum. Miller and Urey's experiments showed that given the probable primordiat conditions, the precursors to living systems could spontaneously form. Hanczyc's work showed that a very simple system containing just a few chemicals could produce a body" capable of primitive metabolism and movement and simplistic behavior 1. How do we define life, given the above facts? Are the "cells" created in a laboratory alive? Why or why not? 2. What does this mean regarding life forms we have yet to encounter? 3 Can we limit potential ife to the conditions generally accepted in science? Task 1: Create a new discussion post on or before Friday at 11.55 p.rth by clicking the ""REPLY HEREpost and reply with your answers to the Week 2 Cnitical Thinking Exercise questions. Your response to the exercise questions should be a mini acceptable, however, I am not looking for an essay mum of 5 sentences Going over the minimum sentence requirement is . Ta ter you have created your new discussion post, you are required to read and respond to a minimum of 2 of your classmates discussion posts. Each of your respon of a contribution to a dialogue, not a writing exercise or a chat room. Elaborate a single idea and keep your post short but concise as if you were holding a conversation with your classmate(s). Incorporate what you have learned from your weekly reading material and from your own real-world experiences ses should be a minimum of 5 sentences Think of your responses in terms Because this is a critical thinking exercise, it is important that you do your best

Explanation / Answer

Critical thinking exercise --

1] Life has many dimensions. If we consider life strictly according to science [ biology ] then an entity is considered to have life if it requires air and nutrients, can reproduce and grow in size, performs some metabolic functions and dies one day. We also know that life can exist as a single cell and also as complex multicellular organisms. Somewhere in between the living and the non living exist the viruses. They are called particles and truly so, because they show the characteristic of living things i.e. reproducing by replicating themselves, only when they are inside a living cell.

The biological structures produced in the laboratory can be considered alive only if they are able to sustain themselves in the outside environment. They have been produced under artificial laboratory conditions and it is highly unlikely that they will survive outside of those conditions. This is all the more logical because the conditions on the earth were very different millions of years ago, when life must have come into existence in the form of primitive structures. Those structures evolved slowly to give shape to 'life' as we know it.

2] There can be strange , unencountered life forms on the eart. There are several unexplored regions on our earth and places where man can never reach , like the exploding craters of volcanoes and the deep, dark and fathomless ocean beds. Life might be existing there -- untouched and uncontaminated . So, we can not rule out the existence of life forms we still have to encounter.

3] No, life cannot be restricted to the conditions, we think , are essential for life.

We already know that many microbes can exist without air . Many hibernating animals stay without food , water and oxygen for long periods of time. They slow down their metabolism rate to overcome the unfavourable conditions. Many living creatures form cysts to evade the harsh conditions and are known to stay in that condition for months and years. They can come back to 'life' once the conditions become suitable.

So, there might be some life forms , burried somewhere on the earth, waiting for their turn to come 'alive' once again. There is every possibility of life existing in forms not yet in our knowledge. Hence, we should not try to limit potential life into conditions generally accepted in science

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