What are the necessary properties of life, as you see it?
Uh, I know where this discussion trends. Let's not go there. Please.
What are the necessary properties of life, as you see it?
Actually, it is not that simple. An old paper, but opinion has not changed.
Are Viruses Alive?
Although viruses challenge our concept of what "living" means, they are vital members of the web of lifewww.scientificamerican.com
Uh, I know where this discussion trends. Let's not go there. Please.
OK let's go somewhere else: State Parks and Forests reopening. Some news reports I read are unclear about a few things, so I looked at the actual Executive Order here: https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-133.pdf
Face coverings: The EO does not require wearing face masks. It says employees and visitors should wear cloth face coverings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain... But we should be trying hard to avoid those situations anyway. (By the way, I really suggest people not wear face masks when driving alone in a car, or with family members you live with. Wasn't there a story recently about an accident, where the police think a factor was the driver had been wearing an N95 mask for a long time and probably didn't get enough oxygen?)
I'm not at all saying you can't wear face covering outdoors in the forest - you certainly can, but it isn't required.
Second, and people here probably won't like this at all: The EO forbids parking in undesignated areas such as roadways. Only in marked parking spaces, and 50% of those are supposed to be unavailable.
What are the necessary properties of life, as you see it?
But we should be trying hard to avoid those situations anyway. (By the way, I really suggest people not wear face masks when driving alone in a car, or with family members you live with.
Well, the question of what distinguishes life from non-life may be more philosophical (and yes, I have qualifications in that regards) than scientific....I have no idea, do you? I prefer to let someone with the education and qualifications define it. Do you think you have them?
None of these allowed in our parks and forests this weekend.
I am in the "not alive" camp for virus. Outside the host, they don't carry on all the requirements of life that I learned of in Biology. They are on the edge of life. Further, when most people think of the word "kill", it means put an end to life. When a blowtorch is aimed at a hard surface where a virus is wrapped in it's protein, you are destroying something that is not alive, so you are not killing it, you are destroying it.
- responsiveness to the environment;
- growth and change;
- ability to reproduce;
- have a metabolism and breathe;
- maintain homeostasis;
- being made of cells; and.
- passing traits onto offspring.
I don't like it just walking in my neighborhood now when people are out. They are jogging with no facemask, maybe leaving a cloud of particles behind them. Sort of a slipstream right towards me.
Belgian-Dutch Study: Why in times of COVID-19 you should not walk/run/bike close behind each other.
What is a safe distance when running, biking and walking during COVID-19 times? It is further than the typical 1–2 meter as prescribed in…medium.com