This seems both interesting and not; I'm just star stuff, as is this rock.

I'll take a stab at it: Water wets things whose surfaces are tuned (across a spectrum) to vibrate with water. Life arises when enough star-stuff is arranged in a way that self-propagates (and more, beyond what viruses do). This requires the relevant parts be resonant enough; not too hot or cold, proper pH, not too much radiation, etc.

Is this just a tautology?

While the question the article brings up is interesting, I don't think I'll be surprised by the answer, and I doubt it'll change anything about existence, except maybe we'll be able to animate a lump of elements like Dr. Frankenstein did in Mary Shelley's famous novel?

Those baffled by "life-testing" (poke it to see if it moves?) should try mentally adding some spacing around the em-dash: Physics has long failed to explain life – testing a groundbreaking new theory