without risking scientific suicide

"The life on Mars issue has recently undergone a paradigm shift," said Ian Wright, an astrobiologist at the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at the Open University in Britain, "to the extent now that one can talk about the possibility of present life on Mars without risking scientific suicide."

Wired News: Scientists: Life on Mars Likely
http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,67315,00.html