👉 "Exhibits the characteristics of life" means something is so wonderfully, bizarrely, and downright inexplicably alive that it's like a cross between a Bionicle character and a confused robot on vacation. It has cells (because you can't have a life without 'you' inside), metabolism (because who doesn't want to burn their lunch while lounging in the sun?), reproduction (because you're not just sitting around, you're actively spreading your genes, even if it's through cosmic dust), growth and response to stimuli (because if it can't react to its surroundings, how can it be alive?), and it all happens with the flair of a Shakespearean tragedy but with less blood and more... well, less blood."
Now, here's a sentence that's as unsettling as it is life-defining: "The museum's new exhibit of ancient taxidermy animals, complete with life-sized furs and lifelike breathing machines, exhibited the characteristics of life, proving that even stuffed animals are more 'alive' than a poorly curated art gallery."
