Alive Or Not Alive... Is A Tricky Question

In this Back To School episode we consider the "List of Life": the criteria that define what it is to be a living thing. Some are easy calls: A kitten is alive. A grain of salt is not.But what about the tricky cases, like a virus? Or, more importantly, what about futuristic android robots?As part of our Black History Month celebration, developmental biologist Crystal Rogers and Short Wave co-host Regina G. Barber dig into what makes something alive, and wade into a Star-Trek-themed debate.Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Is there something you'd like us to cover? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy