Not sure why people hate this post so much. Consider that stars (I mean the celestial objects here, not human celebrities), for example, pass most definitions of lifeforms, except those privileging some specific form of metabolism, like carbon-based. Eh, maybe they even pass that one, since many are carbon cycle-based.
Whether Nature has a defense mechanism against large interventions is a testable theory. Some of the consequences have already been confirmed on the small and medium scale. Some examples: Easter Island, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, global warming. We narrowly avoided (by an order of magnitude or so) igniting the atmosphere with thermonuclear explosions. A grey goo might still do us in.
Yes, apparently. Supernova explosions send shock waves into molecular cloud which can trigger its collapse. They also seed the interstellar space with heavy elements promoting early ignition of collapsing nebulae (and planetary system formation, as a side effect).
Not sure why people hate this post so much. Consider that stars (I mean the celestial objects here, not human celebrities), for example, pass most definitions of lifeforms, except those privileging some specific form of metabolism, like carbon-based. Eh, maybe they even pass that one, since many are carbon cycle-based.
Whether Nature has a defense mechanism against large interventions is a testable theory. Some of the consequences have already been confirmed on the small and medium scale. Some examples: Easter Island, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, global warming. We narrowly avoided (by an order of magnitude or so) igniting the atmosphere with thermonuclear explosions. A grey goo might still do us in.
Do stars reproduce?
Yes, apparently. Supernova explosions send shock waves into molecular cloud which can trigger its collapse. They also seed the interstellar space with heavy elements promoting early ignition of collapsing nebulae (and planetary system formation, as a side effect).
But it’s not like the “children” bring a genetic signature of the “parents”.
Is fire a lifeform according to you?
I don’t know, why are you asking? what’s your definition of a lifeform? Wikipedia suggests something like
Stars and galaxies are probably close to fitting this description than just random forest fires.
I can see that about stars if I squint hard enough, but galaxies?
Squint harder? It’s true, reproduction might be a stretch, but the rest matches up well: growth, development, interaction, homeostasis. They even eat each other to grow, often triggering star formation.