"slime on a spinning rock" is maybe a bit scientifically outdated. Quoting from an NYT article (The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet):

"slime on a spinning rock" is maybe a bit scientifically outdated. Quoting from an NYT article (The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet): >even today, some scientists, especially in geology and related fields, continue to describe life as a relatively inconsequential layer of goo coating a vastly greater mass of inanimate rock. >Such characterizations belie life’s true power. Life significantly expands the surface area of the planet capable of absorbing energy, exchanging gases and performing complex chemical reactions. The Earth-sys­tem scientist Tyler Volk has calculated that all the plant roots on Earth, finely furred with tiny absorptive hairs, make up a surface area 35 times greater than the entire surface of our planet. Microbes are collectively equivalent to 200 Earth areas... https://archive.ph/VgzKD https://archive.ph/VgzKD And life may have shaped the continents by infesting the crust so much that it breaks off and sinks in the magma. More than slime we may be dry rot too! And soon to begat AI descendants to spread over the galaxy if you buy the singularity stuff. Which I have to say seems kinda inevitable to me though others may differ.