Wood-chomping pests like the pine bark beetle are already infamous for their devastating impact on forests. Now, it appears, their destructiveness isn't limited to trees.

Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research are investigating how beetle-induced destruction of large swaths of forest is influencing rainfall, temperature, smog and other aspects of the atmosphere.

"Forests help control the atmosphere, and there's a big difference between the impacts of a living forest and a dead forest," said principal investigator Alex Guenther.

For example, living plants emit water vapor, other gases and microscopic particles that influence the atmosphere in subtle and complex ways. Tiny airborne particles from plants rise into clouds, providing surfaces for water droplets to adhere to and eventually form into raindrops. Living trees absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Beetle-ravaged forests emit it. The overall effects may be slight, but in places like the arid western United States, it's critical to understand what impact the beetles might be having, said Guenther.

"Rain and snow may become even more scarce in the future as the climate changes," Guenther said, with "a growing population that wants ever more water."

VERBATIM

Those who will not reason perish in the act: Those who will not act perish for that reason.

— English poet and writer W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

BRAIN SWEAT

Translate these rebuses:

1. eiln pu

2. WINEEEE

3. timing ti ming

PRIME NUMBERS

2.2 — Percentage of PC browser market achieved by Google Chrome in its first week, overtaking Opera's 1.9 percent

63 — Percentage of browser market held by Microsoft's Internet Explorer

7 — Percentage of laptops sold in the United Kingdom that have built-in fingerprint sensors to save people the trouble of remembering passwords

Sources: getclicky.com; Parisista; New Scientist

BRAIN SWEAT ANSWER

1. Line up in alphabetical order

2. Win with ease

3. Split second timing

'TRUE FACTS'

Only 5 percent to 25 percent of the nutrients consumed by farm animals are converted into consumable meat.

QUIRKS OF NATURE

Teetering on the brink of extinction and limited to a tiny patch of Australian coastline, the armored mist frog appears to be making a comeback. Researchers have found specimens that are apparently immune to a global frog-killing fungus that wiped out most of the species 17 years ago. Now they're trying to pinpoint the secret to the frogs' tolerance.

CARTOON PHYSICS

All principles of gravity are negated by fear.

Psychic forces are sufficient in most bodies for a shock to propel a cartoon character directly away from the Earth's surface. Example: A spooky noise or an adversary's signature sound will induce motion upward, usually to the cradle of a chandelier, a treetop or the crest of a flagpole.

Corollary: The feet of a character who is running away in fear or the wheels of a speeding auto never touch the ground.

POETRY FOR SCIENTISTS

In Boston, lived Jack, as did Jill,

Who gained mgh on a hill.

In their liquid pursuit, Jill exclaimed with a hoot,

"I think we've just climbed a landfill!"

While noting, "Oh, this is just grand,"

Jack tripped on some trash in the sand.

He changed his potential

To kinetic, torrential,

But not before grabbing Jill's hand.

— mgh is part of a formula for determining potential energy (E) due to gravity. The m equals the mass of the object; g is the acceleration due to gravity; h is the height of the object. Thus E=mgh.

ANTHROPOLOGY 101

In Northern Ireland, it was once believed that you could not praise a horse without spitting on it afterward. If a horse fell sick after being praised, the owner had three days to find the person who had paid the compliment and induce him to say the Lord's Prayer in the ailing horse's ear.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.