As it turns out, crime does pay — with lots and lots of stats! Civilization has a vested interest in keeping tabs on uncivilized activity. Crime statistics have been collected all around the globe for centuries to various degrees of precision. These stats paint a clear, data-guided picture of a universal (if unseemly) aspect of humanity. Crime is one our species' most thoroughly documented activities, and therefore one which we can most accurately attempt to grasp. The truth is made of numbers. We've picked through the vast reservoirs of facts and figures from around the world in an attempt to make some order of the number jumbo. Some of these findings may challenge your conceptions, while others will reinforce them. But in the end, they are the only authority that matters because detached steely statistics never lie. Here we present a big ol' serving of hot steamy number porn. Enjoy.

Back in the early 1990s, I kind of just assumed I'd have a pet dinosaur by now. I probably would have enjoyed naming him something ironic, like Peanut. Or maybe Dino Gillespie. But that's all beside the point because scientists have apparently all been spending their time discovering exoplanets and making dancing robots instead of working on cloning some friggin' dinosaurs. But before resigning ourselves to a decidedly undinosaured fate; there are some faint beacons of hope that may yet result in something resembling a real live rawr-ing dinosaur! I guess better late than never, right? We'll see. Just make with the T. rex, scienceface.

With another year come and gone, things aren't looking any better for the U.S. Postal Service. The beloved bearer of pre-approved credit cards and last minute birthday gifts purchased on the Internet is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. There are various factors contributing to this centuries-old institution's decline, but the portliest albatross around the agency's neck is the precipitous decline in demand for first-class postage due to the faster and cheaper nature of electronic communication. This damning technology-fueled obsolescence only promises to accelerate. Engineers and basement tinkerers are tirelessly exploring the wild nerdish frontiers of 3D printing, and should we ever perfect a true Star Trek-esque transporter (which is not a completely nutso concept BTW), there will be zero need for any form of parcel service, public or private. But the lowly post office isn't the only government function on the verge of a tech-laden death knell. This century may render a number of traditional governmental roles wholly obsolete. Some of these moribund functions are obvious, while some may seem surprising. But they are coming. Here's a short list of public institutions that will be completely outmoded by the time today's preschoolers hit retirement — if not much sooner. (Note: we're looking at this trend in the scope of the U.S. system, but international readers will find parallels — this is a global thang).

Zombie movies almost always work. Maybe because they are a perfect metaphor for our latent fear of civilization's disintegration. Or they're just good at playing up our repulsion of the icky-yicky that is the inside of our bodies. Whatever the reason, we're fascinated with all-things-zombie. For example, the blog-o-nets were recently all abuzz with a real-life-creepy scientific paper regarding "zombie caterpillars." Specifically, the report detailed how a virus infects a gypsy moth caterpillar's brain and forces the insect to climb to the top of a tree and remain there (a healthy moth will only ascend at night). The virus then "melts" the poor creature into a drippy goop that litters the forest floor to infect more unfortunate victims. It's part Body Snatchers, part Living Dead — and real. But this oozing zombie moth is far from the only example from the annals of science that feature once-living creatures that still mange to lurk about. Here, we present some strange, but true examples that might only be described as the living dead. Or the dead living. Whatever--it's freaky real zombie stuff. WARNING: If you are a squeamish person do NOT watch any videos linked or embedded in this post, but feel free to read on--words won't damage you. Too much.