Personally, I like maps:

1) They're fun to read.
2) They're reliable. I don't want to worry about batteries, cellphone signals and fragile gadgetry wile I'd driving the back roads of northern Nevada.
3) They help me connect with the local landscape. I actually have to *think about where I am*.

Since the presence of geysers doesn't increase the likelihood of life, which would require a much more complex set of conditions and events to occur.
You might as well write "Iron detected on Enceladus, increasing the likelihood of Cadillac Dealerships."

But the movie didn't require a plot, since it was just a series of special effects and action scenes.

When I was in High School, I set up a full lab, with the full array of chemicals like Sulfuric Acid, Hydrazine, Ethyl Acetoacetate etc etc. I learned a tremendous amount and made some interesting chemicals, but in hindsight I have serious reservations:

1) Most people will have a very hard time coping with hazardous waste in a proper fashion, and the temptation to cut corners will be irresistible.
2) If you look at the current state of chemical research, you'll see that the home hobbyist *HAS NO CHANCE* of keeping pace with a modern research lab. Palladium catalysts? Glove Boxes? Preparative Chromatography? NMR? Organometallic chemistry? Suzuki couplings? If you want to advance the state of the art and make meaningful contributions you need heavy tools nowadays. Yes, you might find something interesting, but most all of the easy chemicals have been made.
3) The risk of fire, explosion and toxic contamination is very real. Someone trying to distill a liter of THF in their garage is asking for trouble, and if my neighbor was doing this I would be very concerned.
If someone wants to spend $600,000 and lease space in an industrial park, more power to 'em, but it doesn't sound like a hobby at that point.
I eventually packed everything up and took it to a 'hazardous material collection day' run by the local fire department. They were quite surprised, and it all went off to a HazMat landfill.