  In astrophysics as well as in hadron physics progress has recently been made
on the determination of the hadronic equation of state (EOS) of compressed
matter. The results are contradictory, however. Simulations of heavy ion
reactions are now sufficiently robust to predict the stiffness of the (EOS)
from (i) the energy dependence of the ratio of $K^+$ from Au+Au and C+C
collisions and (ii) the centrality dependence of the $K^+$ multiplicities. The
data are best described with a compressibility coefficient at normal nuclear
matter density $\kappa$ around 200 MeV, a value which is usually called
``soft'' The recent observation of a neutron star with a mass of twice the
solar mass is only compatible with theoretical predictions if the EOS is stiff.
We review the present situation.
