These calcified deposits can grow to enormous sizes over long periods of time and form coral reefs -- one of the world's most productive ecosystems, which can harbor more than 4, 000 species of fish and many other marine life forms.

CNN: Report: Coral almost as genetically complex as humans

Rather than fight googly-eyed martians, however, you help spread life to the Red Planet, planting a variety of seeds which in turn grow a variety of plant-life, and awaken other forms of life, as you traverse the depths.

FORBES: Connect

But without a star to keep the earth warm, other forms of life would be doomed to a chilly death.

ECONOMIST: To the ends of the earth

It is believed that human beings and other forms of life would not be directly harmed by such a burst of EMP.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The Blackout Next Time

Lessened demand on Western taxpayers' resources for agricultural credits and other forms of life-support for the vestiges of the old Soviet centralized system.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Depending on whether an object hitting us were a fast-moving comet or a slower asteroid, it would need to be about 2.5 miles across to set in motion the process of reducing light and destroying photosynthesis, without both of which Homo sapiens and the other forms of life on our planet could not survive.

FORBES: Space: Our Ticket to Survival

They are criticized for being potentially harmful to marine life, but Mortimer contends that because the turbine's propellers move relatively slowly, the impact on fish and other forms of sea life is minimal.

CNN: Tide turns towards undersea energy

He is searching also for other therapeutic gases, in experiments on a variety of life forms ranging from yeast to pigs.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Sometimes he coughed into his cupped hand, other times into the table, and we imagined microscopic life forms teeming toward the tabletop and ricocheting into breathable space.

NEWYORKER: Midnight in Dostoevsky

Several companies are already seeking to take advantage of the new field, called synthetic biology, which combines chemistry, computer science, molecular biology, genetics and cell biology to breed industrial life forms that can secrete fuels, vaccines or other commercial products.

WSJ: Scientists Create First Synthetic Cell

And then each year thereafter, review the beneficiary forms you filled out for any annuities, life insurance, IRAs or other retirement accounts.

FORBES: Why Your Will Should Name Designated Beneficiaries