IF it is ultimately found that these ARE bacteria, then the argument that life is rare in the universe goes out the window. BUT, on Earth, bacteria were the most common form of life starting 3.8 billion years ago, and all the way up to 570 million years ago or so...Most of Earth's biological history has been dominated by non-intelligent organisms and bacteria. Intelligence is not the high point of evolution even on this world! I think it just says that the universe may be teaming with life, but on 99 out of 100 planets all you have is bacteria, algae, plants and insects. On 1 planet out of 100 you may have more complex creatures, but intelligence may not be a favored trait among them. Intelligent humans evolved 2 million years ago, and for 1000 that long we just had dumb plants and animals.