**🚀 From Mars Rocks to 10,000-Year Clocks: A Journey Through Time, Space & Human Curiosity**

In this episode of *Dispatches from the Well*, we're taken on an awe-inspiring ride through the cosmos and deep into Earth's own history—guided by some of the most curious minds on the planet. 🧠🌍

🔴 **Nina Lanza**, a planetary scientist, doesn't work *on* Mars—but she works *for* it. From the volcanic terrains of New Mexico, she studies rocks eerily similar to those found on the Red Planet. With NASA’s Rovers Curiosity and Perseverance, she's uncovering secrets about Martian geology, including tantalizing hints that microbial life *may* have once existed there. 🔬🪨

⚛️ **Sean Carroll**, the theoretical physicist behind the *Mindscape* podcast, reflects on the wonder and responsibility of scientific discovery. He stresses that while we don't yet understand dark matter or quantum gravity, we *do* know much about the atoms that make us—and that knowledge reshapes how we see ourselves. 🌀

🛸 **Kevin Kelly**, futurist and co-founder of *Wired*, opens up his "curiosity wall" and gives us a glimpse of a future shaped by wonder and longevity. From freeze-dried birds to a prototype part of a 10,000-year clock, Kevin shows us how thinking long-term could be the most radical thing we do. ⏳🔧

✨ Whether it's vaporizing Mars rocks with lasers or building monuments meant to last ten millennia, this episode celebrates our endless hunger to *know more*—about our past, our universe, and what lies ahead.

🧩 *What if curiosity isn’t just a trait—but our species’ best survival strategy?*

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