It's not really meant for "naive people": nobody expects you to change your behavior as a result of this press release.
The target audience is really science journalists on EurekaWire. They're hoping this press release will get picked up by a science writer for the New York Times or Scientific American, etc.
A parallel goal is to demonstrate that the university is doing cutting edge work, which helps with student enrollment, fundraising, and recruitment. This also applies to the funders: they want to demonstrate that donations (or tax dollars) are being put to good use.
If it directly catches the attention of science aficionados, that's mostly a bonus.
The target audience is really science journalists on EurekaWire. They're hoping this press release will get picked up by a science writer for the New York Times or Scientific American, etc.
A parallel goal is to demonstrate that the university is doing cutting edge work, which helps with student enrollment, fundraising, and recruitment. This also applies to the funders: they want to demonstrate that donations (or tax dollars) are being put to good use.
If it directly catches the attention of science aficionados, that's mostly a bonus.