Peeking into the rock

The good news is that they've found a millipede,illacme plenipes, in San Benito County that hadn't been seen in eighty years. It's a tiny little thing, about as big as a root hair, that lives in an area .8 kilometer square. As this rather (justifiably)chuffed-up article states, its relatives are pretty far-flung (which I'm guessing indicates its ancestor was a rather cosmopolitan arthropod in the olden days) and its body is interesting: it's leggier than most millipedes, it excretes a silky substance with an unknown use, and its sexual parts are very elaborate. It appears to be in the victim witness protection program: its location is a secret. Do follow the link: there's an embedded movie of the little dear. Also, there's more about rarities of San Benito County.

Those of you who are convention-going SF fans know that there's a joke bid for Hollister for the Worldcon. You can add to the special reasons for supporting Hollister proximity to one of the world's rarest millipedes, oh and that tiny evening primrose and that cool rock too.

( long-winded as usual behind the cut )
And, just to demonstrate that they know what's really important, Fox Sports Net is undertaking an in-depth study as to whether Santa Cruz is really "Surf City USA," instead of Huntington Beach, which got the rights to the title. Surely this is the most momentous issue on the whole California Coast, right?