Agreed, it's all a bit odd. There are no interesting discoveries here, so this must be a methods paper, which is fine, except it's a method that's so laborious

Agreed, it's all a bit odd. There are no interesting discoveries here, so this must be a methods paper, which is fine, except it's a method that's so laborious that surely nobody will ever use it again. Still, laymen are clearly wowed by the scale of the thing, so it's perfect Nature fodder.