In nature, loud colors aren’t usually an afterthought. Mate with me, says many a strutting bird, vibrant plumage on full show. Don’t eat me, shouts the poisonous plant. Yet, for a long time, no one considered that the most noticeable of color displays—the slow, then sudden, wave of warm shades that sweeps through our forests each year—might have its own hidden meaning.

Believe it or not, occasionally the presidential candidates can offer more than bullying banter. Audubon recently asked the candidates to describe their positions on some important environmental issues (See September-October 2008). On Monday, ScienceDebate 2008, a citizens initiative now signed by hundreds of influential scientific organizations, universities, and individuals, released McCain’s written answers to 14 questions about today’s most pressing scientific concerns. Obama provided answers to the same questions two weeks ago.

Old-growth forests may be invaluable habitat, but they’ve never counted for much on the world’s carbon-budget sheets. As trees age and their growth rates slow, they become “carbon-neutral,” emitting about as much carbon dioxide as they absorb—or so went decades of traditional thinking. By comparison, young adolescent forests, perhaps sprouting on recently logged land, were thought to soak up the most C’s.

The first time I saw Lake Superior, I was looking out past the lighthouse from the port city of Duluth, Minnesota this past Labor Day weekend.  I felt what it might be like to stand at the base of Mount Everest before a climb. The world’s largest freshwater body was right there in front of me, but its enormity was still abstract. I couldn’t really feel it. Fortunately, that would soon change.

Be nice to crows and their cacophonous relatives--otherwise, you'll have made yourself a lasting enemy. That's the lesson of a neat study that Michelle Nijhuis reports in this week's Science Times. 

Ahhh, the all-American, all-you-can-eat buffet. Nowhere else do we revel in our own waste with such joy. Overstuffed but determined to sample the cornucopia of desserts, I waited behind a woman at one last weekend. She was scrupulously carving "just a sliver" (as my grandma used to say) from a hefty wedge of chocolate cake. “Take the whole slice and leave the rest on your plate like everyone else,” commented a man nearby. Well, it would make the line move faster, I thought.

Miles of sediment—rocks pummeled and weathered into glassy sands and dense clays—are piled fat on top of the bedrock in places like the Mississippi Delta or Bengal Basin. In other areas, only a thin skin of dirt covers the hard bedrock. Occasionally, atop mountains or astride a jutted outcrop or incised road cut, we have the pleasure of directly viewing Earth’s skeletal structure.

Flip-flop, tick-tock--the longer oil prices remain above $4 per gallon, the more pressure to drill our way to salvation. Last week, Sen. Obama backed off his complete opposition to offshore drilling, telling the Palm Beach Post that he'd consider including some offshore drilling as part of a more comprehensive energy policy.

Dumb jokes, maudlin poems, top ten lists and chain letters are among the emails I let die a lonely death when they land in my inbox by way of some misguided friend or family member. Even when I actually find articles or links interesting, I don't usually feel compelled to pass them along.