Living dead. “Ants and infertile humans are not alive, but parasitic DNA is.

That’s the view of a Polish researcher who has proposed a

new, universal definition of life.

He claims it will lay to

rest arguments about

what is and isn’t

alive, and might offer

insights into when life

on Earth got started.

And if we ever find

something that looks

like life on another

planet, his definition

could help us settle

whether it’s alive or

not.” New Scientist