Fossil Flora Suggest Rain Forest Once Flourished Where Colorado Now Burns [Scientific American]
Some 65 million years ago, a mass extinction of global proportions stamped out much of the earth[base ']s flora and fauna, perhaps most notably the dinosaurs. The fossil record indicates that worldwide species diversity did not recover from this catastrophic event for another 10 million years. It came as a surprise, then, when researchers recently discovered near Denver, Colo., remnants of an incredibly plant-rich rain forest dating to just 1.4 million years after the devastation. - DMNS/PAINTING BY JAN VRIESEN

Health-System Meltdown A prescription for needless suffering and death by Marc B. Haefele King-Drew: Not worthy of life support (Photo by Slobodan Dimitrov)

CAN HEALTH CARE FOR THE POOR AS IT NOW exists be saved in Los Angeles County?

The answer looks like "no." Even the Department of Health Services' (DHS) usual strong supporters -- Supervisor Gloria Molina, for instance -- seem resigned to an "inevitable" downsizing that will make for longer lines at fewer facilities. Or as the Times quoted her, speaking of her own constituents: "They're just going to have to drive farther, wait longer."