Matter learns memory.

Non living chemistry starts copying patterns. Errors and selection turn 1 reaction into many lineages.

A common root takes hold.

LUCA is not the first life. It is the last shared checkpoint before the split into major branches.

Life builds from instructions.

A shared code links information to function. 3 letters become 1 amino acid, repeated billions of times.

Sunlight becomes food.

Photosynthesis turns photons into chemistry. A new energy budget arrives at planetary scale.

The sky rewrites biology.

Oxygen rises and reshapes ecosystems. Respiration yields about 10x more energy per molecule than fermentation.

Power moves inside.

A merger installs mitochondria. One cell inside another changes the ceiling on complexity.

Many cells, one organism.

Cells specialize and coordinate. Division of labor turns millions into 1 body.

Organisms take shape.

Body plans diversify fast. Many major animal lineages appear within tens of millions of years.

Life starts predicting.

Nervous systems coordinate movement. Milliseconds matter, so brains evolve for speed and foresight.

The lineage continues.

Earth holds millions of living species. Humans are one branch, now able to read the code and measure deep time.