It's very impressive, no doubt about that.
But it's also somewhat annoying, because unlike astronomy or physics, there is no veil to lift and reveal answers to great questions. All we have are limited fossils, formed by chance and within a very narrow group of fossilizeable materials/locations.

Depends on what you mean by "significant" and the amount of this collection of things.

Indeed. ^_^

I agree with you up to a point... NASA would indeed not put humans on Mars right now, unless ordered to and funded specifically for that, for the reason you listed above. But they would eventually put humans there, once they've reached a level of technological advancement that makes it an easy trip.

I'm plagued by an excellent memory and a love of movies/TV series/media, so to cope with this i rarely re-watch a movie or show until 12+ months has passed, since i can otherwise recall the entire plot.

We are indeed missing a huge part of life, during the early Cambrian. From the fossil record, it looks as if no apex life of any kind existed or hunted anything, as if the entire ecosystem consisted of figurative bottom feeders hunting each other. Which doesn't fit with how evolution works and neither does it explain…

Doesn't the thermal signature depend on how much energy is consumes by a given Dyson Sphere? Theoretically, if they have the technology to build such a massive structure, even around a white dwarf, shouldn't they be able to use all forms of power projected from it?

The rover obviously needs 2 things... A speaker system through which to play the theme from Terminator, and a renaming to "Opportunism, the Mars Owner"!

Nematocysts are powerless against armor, so the odds are still in favor of armored life.

I like the way you think. And if i ever find/invent/steal a time machine, you're welcome to come along.

First, let me point out that plenty of men don't like blowjobs, and I'm one of them. They're about as sexually stimulating as a lazy, poorly rhythmed and unmotivated handjob, which is why I'd prefer even the most mediocre jack off to a BJ.
To be fair, one past significant other did give me an awesome blowjob, but she's…

Yes, people often take paleontology as the definite list of anything and everything that went on, without comprehending that the fossil record is more of a snapshot of random animals that can fossilize.
I fully realized this when watching the UK series Primeval (the US spin-off was pretty bad and unfocused), which…

The fact that they don't fossilize is exactly the problem, as paleontology is a hard science that requires physical evidence, for something to go from hypothesis to theory. And while there are plenty of hypotheses on the impact, role and dominance of both soft-bodied mollusc's and cnidarias, there's very little…

Oh my brothers and sister in arm, i raise a can of Monster and a Linux Live USB to you in solidarity.

Oh, it's well worth a watch. The first few episodes feel dreadfully formulaic and almost made me quit, but then episode 5 happened and shit got real! ^_^
Definitely one of the best series I've seen, and according to AniDB (IMDb for anime, which i use to keep track of what I've seen) I've thus far seen 185 animes, with…

Can't say I've tried that, though I'd love to. Unfortunately I live in far away Denmark, which doesn't have anything like this... But we do have something else!

Maybe because geological processes has very little to do with my comment... ^_^

Sure, there'll be traces here and there, but the problem is actually the various metals. and stainless steel will be the biggest problem.
Unlike you're impression of stainless steel, it's not "damn near immortal". Under optimal condition (not exposed to light, moisture, temperature fluctuations or air) it will indeed…

Incredible craftsmanship and an even better afterthought. It really puts things into perspective, as our point of view would suggest he was unique, even though we might just be missing million of products predating his, which could have used the same technique and/or even have used branding.

In mathematical term: You just divided that scanner by 0!