Slate asks whether cockroaches really will survive nuclear holocaust, reporting, "studies over the last half-decade, such as those conducted by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, have found that these 'other insects' are more likely to reign in the age after humans; the cockroach might, in fact, be one of the first bugs to go." Is anyone else curious why the UN would squander money studying the effect of radiation on the earth's population of insects? Then again, perhaps humanity is more likely to survive the next century if the UN is focused on the post-human future.