Without an evolutionary benefit, it wouldn't have spread to every woman of our species.

When solitary wild animals aren’t eating/hunting, evading predators, mating, taking care of offspring, or sleeping, what do they do? Between all of those actions is there a lot of space? How do they fill it?

What I mean is how big can an animal theoretically get?
The blue whale is not only the largest animal alive, but the largest to ever exist (that we know of)

But is it actually possible for something to be bigger? Or is the Blue whale the max?

Aren't they similar builds and fit into the same sort of niche?

So in school my son is learning about microscopic organisms and he asked me stuff like "how many atoms are single celled organisms made of"

And obviously even the smallest cell is gonna be many many atoms but is there some kind of theoretical minimum where it stops being "life" and starts to just be "atoms/molecules doing things"?

Like I've seen that artistic rendering of the enzyme or protein pulling water around a cell like this https://www.reddit.com/r/educationalgifs/s/i0vnokdbin

But would we consider that protein alive in its own right?

From bugs to fish to mamals all of them have their eyes above their mouths. I can't think of many if any where their mouths are on top. Sure some have their eyes parallel to their mouths, mainly prey style animals. But why haven't any evolved to be the opposite? Is there a major benefit to having your mouth below your eyes?

I was thinking about light and cones and color perception, and I wanted to think about what if humans evolved a fourth color cone; detecting lengths of let's say 800 or 300. Now what I do know is that "magenta" is something made up by the brain, which bridges the "gap" of short and long cones triggered. But what would happen if that gap suddenly got a new cone? Would magenta then disappear because it exists within the (new) possible range of color? Would it change to a different color and our brains create a new imaginary color to bridge the new gap? Just curious what would happen...

Not sure if it’s how human skin can hold on to their stinger, or if this occurs with multiple species, but I’m curious if honeybees know they will have their stinger and insides ripped out by stinging?

EDIT: Wow, this blew up. Thanks for the many answers. Lots to think about.

Seems that the composite TLDR answer is: Yes, according to many/most definitions of "life", but we don't all agree on what life is. Some viruses do not have DNA but they may/not actually be alive, and other things that behave like life may/not be alive.

If the cells are replaced, would they not be replaced with your natural pigmentation? How can the pigmentation mostly last a lifetime?

When a centipede walks, do they initiate walking with their front legs, back legs, or do all the legs take a step at the same time? To make it simpler, I used car terminology.

Wasps have been a predator for other insects. It would be fascinating to know if there are really other insects or predators for wasps, either accidental or deliberate predators

Taking into account moisture, ease of digestion, etc? If they do, I'm assuming the difference is neglgible.

Recently, processed meat being type 1 carcinogens has been in the news. Most news outlets covering this and even sources like Cleveland clinic mention processes as simple as salting as being under the umbrella of "processed meat" but is this true?

From previous reading, I know that one of the major ways processed meat causes issues is through the production of nitrosamines when meat cured with nitrates is cooked at high temperatures. I also know that compounds found in smoked meat have been linked to cancer.

But what about processed meat that is not cured or smoked? E.g. uncured sausage. And what about mean that is cured, but cooked at a lower temperature? E.g. steamed ham, boiled sausage. Or cured meat that is eaten raw? E.g. procuitto, bresoala.

Are these foods carcinogens? What is the mechanism?

Trying to think of the positives... if we are all in relative social isolation for the next few months, will this lead to other more common viruses also decreasing in abundance and ultimately lead to their extinction?