I agree with you, hype isn't necessarily a bad thing. And I get impatient with the Mars Society saying their Earth-based experiments have anything at all to do with Mars.
AND, it seems to me all the articles said was that:
1: Life has been found to be existing on Earth under difficult conditions similar to what might be found Mars, or that
2: A non-oxygen based metabolism which can support life and which is viable on Earth has been demonstrated, AND
that means that life under the conditions found on Mars still cannot be ruled out.
I didn't read into anything printed that was more definite than that.
I have to agree with you. "Hype" might not be all bad. And in my opinion, the articles didn't seem to me to be as "hyped" as most of the Mars Society press releases, which are "hyped" for a good reason.
Arf
Space/Science » in reply to Hype or reality
Geez!!