Can MacBook pro heat damage the screen?

Its probably best if you allowed the computer to cool for a few seconds. If you have an infrared thermometer, you will actually notice that the case only takes a short while to cool down to a reasonable temperature. I would leave the cover open for a minute or two before shutting and storing it away. While the heat won't necessarily cause that much damage (many people including myself have heavily used the computer with the cover shut) it is best to avoid this when possible.

i have used mine for the last few weeks running Folding@Home 24x7 (it maxes out the cpu, both cores) with the lid shut and it dosen't seem to do any damage, the screen only heats up to 100-105F (i'm guessing, its not hot at all on the screen)

the screen only heats up to 100-105F

Are you sure about that? Maybe the screen as a whole has that temp, but what about the part of the screen that closes over the area right above the F keys? That part of my MBP gets very, very hot--to the point where if I leave my finger on it it hurts, and I can stand heat. I would guess that part of the MBP gets between 130-140F, and that might be a conservative estimate. That's the part I worry about.

For myself, I let the MBP cool down a few minutes before closing it. And I have that Marware chamois keyboard cover, and I make sure that is placed slightly towards the top of the keyboard, covering most of that hot bar of metal when I close it.

i don't have any type of infared temp thingys, but i can say that its not hot at all, its much much cooler then the bar over the F keys, its maybe the temp that the trackpad gets to when you crank it to 100% with the screen open (well maybe 5 degrees warmer)

after looking it over, it appears the the screen folds to over the keyboard to the front, so the screen is not directly over that bar, and it think that has a lot to do with it, and there is probably some airflow to keep the heat from building up

Good point Edman, the bottom of the screen may not come in direct contact with the oven...er metal pad above the F key. However if it doesn't directly touch, it comes very very close and that still worries me a little bit.

However, putting that Marware pad on top of the keyboard eases my mind a bit. Now I won't be so hesitant about closing the lid if I'm using it in demonstration mode with an external LCD monitor.