I find it interesting that a single insect not seen for 80 years appears to exist only in a single ravine in California.  That says a lot about biodiversity in very small ecosystems.  Oh, and it’s the only known species of millipede that even approaches having 1,000 legs as their name implies.

The 36th Skeptics’ Circle is over at Dr. Charles’ place.  As he puts it, it’s “a selection of critical thinkings from bloggers who aren’t trying to sell you crystals or watered-down snake oil.”

It should be #55, but instead we have Tangled Bank #54 (version 2).  I added the version 2 as someone else seems to have miscounted — or I’ve smoked too much crack.  In any case, and despite the brusque presentation, you’ll find a fantastic assortment of science blogging covering a tremendously diverse number of topics.

I hope you have $510,678 available.  “Taxpayers owe more than a half-million dollars per household for financial promises made by government, mostly to cover the cost of retirement benefits for baby boomers… Federal, state and local governments have added nearly $10 trillion to taxpayer liabilities in the past two years, bringing the total of government’s unfunded obligations to an unprecedented $57.8 trillion.”  You must realize that America’s economy could easily tank with such overwhelming public debt hanging over the heads of taxpayers.

A new species of mini-dinosaur has been unearthed in northern Germany.