Life

Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects as having self-sustaining process from those that do not, either because those functions cease (in the case of death), or because those functions were never present (in the case of inanimate material).

Qualifications for Life
There are four qualifications for a body to be considered living: Different forms of life have have different or more specific requirements to be part of that sub-category. For example, organic life must also maintain homeostasis, growth, and must reproduce, and their organization must be of cells, which are the most basic components of organic life.
 * 1) Organization - being structurally composed of basic units or components
 * 2) Metabolism - the conversion of energy into more usable forms and use of energy to perform basic tasks in the body
 * 3) Adaptation - the ability to change over time to respond to external conditions
 * 4) Response to Stimuli - any reaction on the part of the organism to short term external stimuli