This is no longer a question for philosophers. Evolutionary biologists also dwell upon it. Manuel Massot from Laboratoire Ecologie & Evolution, CNRS-UPMC, France, and Pedro Aragón from Departamento de Biogeograf─▒a y Cambio Global, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain, looked into how small life events can have long-term consequences. If you are a lizard, the future depends on the first meal you eat. Vibha Varshney decodes the findings published in Current Biology on July 3