Figure 1.

(A) the hierarchical origin of life, viewed as five ascending stages of increasing complexity, showing the biomolecules in the prebiotic world that led to the development of the first cells. These are the cosmic, geological, chemical, information, and biological stages—each higher-level acquired novel emergent properties. In the dark hot environments of hydrothermal crater lake basins, prebiotic synthesis led to first life. (B) the three ways of processing information in life are analog, hybrid, and digital, shown against the hierarchy of life.