In junior high school in the early '60's, I grew a large variety of crystals for a science project. I concluded that my crystals met many/most definitions of "alive", hence the whole discussion was bogus. (Too bad Schrodinger didn't use a crystal instead of a cat...) At 12:06 AM 5/17/2020, Hans Havermann wrote:
Some weeks ago I had occasion to correct someone for noting that SARS-CoV-2 lives on surfaces for however-many days. "Of course viruses are not technically alive," I suggested. Since then, every doctor and health professional on TV has used the same "lives on surfaces" that I disparaged! Just English usage I thought to myself. Randall Munroe has now added to my dismay by placing viruses on the "alive" side of his latest xkcd:
I'll counter with the excellent recent Kurtzgesagt on the topic: