"The land, both above and below ground, is packed with living organisms of varying size, mass, and complexity, including plants, animals, and fungi. Even the atmosphere houses a wide variety of life forms, from birds and insects to microbes found far above the highest mountain peaks. All told, more than 8 million species of organisms are currently represented on Earth, totaling over half a trillion tonnes of carbon in overall biomass."
"We can trace our evolutionary history through time, with notable milestones including: We have fossil evidence of life existing 3.8 billion years ago, but the start of it all - the origin of life itself on Earth - remains an unsolved puzzle. Although many theories and scenarios abound, one of the least-talked-about may actually be the most likely: a metabolism-first scenario for life's beginnings."
Planet Earth hosts abundant life across oceans, freshwater, land, subterranean environments, and the atmosphere, together exceeding 8 million species and over half a trillion tonnes of carbon in biomass. Life exhibits vast diversity in size, complexity, habitat, and lifespan, yet shares universal features. At least five properties characterize all modern life, including resource collection from the environment and metabolism that extracts energy from external sources. Fossil evidence places life at least 3.8 billion years ago, but the origin of life remains unresolved. Recent research elevates a metabolism-first scenario as a promising hypothesis for life's emergence.
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