Here's a few things GNUnet replaces and why it's better:
Bittorrent is replaced by GNUnet "filesharing", it's trackerless, it provides a search function, users can adjust their level of anonymity for publishing, downloading, and searching.
DNS is replaced by "GNS", it covers the "decentralized" and "secure" points in Zooko's triangle, it a pet name system.
VPN is replaced by GNUnet VPN, which is just VPN over GNUnet so it can take advantage of the p2p network.
TCP/UDP/SPDY/QUIC is replaced by "cadet", takes advantage of the p2p network.
There's also a DHT.
And there's lots of other stuff that's in-progress.
Do you mean the Drake equation? The relevant factor would be n_e "the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets"
The website is one of the things we need help with. If you want something more detailed than the About GNUnet paragraph there's the key concepts[2] and user handbook[1].
You're missing a cable I had to buy recently for my father-in-law: Laptop to monitor: mini display port to DVI (specifically DVI without analog pins or it wouldn't fit into the plug on the monitor).
