Earth microbe surviving on Mars and alien physiology

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here's today's news:
g Life - How would a hardy Earth microbe survive today on Mars? See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Message - What happens if the next signal turns out to be the real thing? What happens if the sender wants to talk? Will we know what to say? The answers are in this astrobiology primer.
g Imagining - Since no extraterrestrial life forms have been conclusively discovered, alien physiology lies in the realm of our imagination. See article.
g Aftermath - Understanding the public’s current thoughts on what will happen once humanity discovers extraterrestrial intelligence is a vital part of any objective discussion in which we attempt to predict and prepare for the aftermath. Here’s one person’s view. Note the mix of popular mythology (UFOs) and an almost spiritual notion that the aliens will help us or make our lives better in some ways, as if they were angels descended from the sky. A thought: Is this an indication that if the aliens are technologically superior, we’ll readily accept their ways and let it supplant our own culture?