A LOOK AT SEASONAL MOOD SWINGS and serotonin levels. “The molecular explanation to why these physical and emotional functions vary with seasonal changes has always been unknown, but the positron emission tomography (PET) technology used in this study was precise enough to detect correlations between dropping serotonin levels and amount of daily sun light. . . . The discovery of this correlation helps explain why more people experience major depressive episodes in the fall and winter than in the spring and summer. Major depressive disorder is the fourth leading cause of death and disability, according to the World Health Organization, and the goal of this research is to eventually prevent the illness itself. If researchers can label which specifics in certain environments raise or lower serotonin transporter levels, then they can suggest an ideal environment for people susceptible to seasonal depression, and hopefully prevent its onset all together.” Until then, you might want to schedule a Caribbean vacation, just to be safe!

UPDATE: Reader James Woolery, M.D., emails:

I noted your mention today of the connection between serotonin and changes in mood with a shortening of day length…

This time of year out my office window in the North Bay, looking over the estuaries of the Napa River, near evening I will see flocks of canvasback ducks wheeling in flight and settling on the water…

This phenomenon is exactly matched temporally with an increase in return visits of my depressed patients, and both phenomena derive, ultimately, from the same change: a decrease in the number of photons striking the retina, whether in man or bird.

Obviously, the solution is for us to fly south, too. Why am I not planning a Cayman trip?

BOB BARR INVITES RON PAUL to be his running mate. Current Libertarian VP candidate Wayne Allyn Root, last seen demanding that Obama release his college grades, is willing to step aside.

MICHELE CATALANO on memories of 9/11.

And this column by Jonah Goldberg from last year is worth reading, too. Plus, a 9/11 oral history.

TALKLEFT: “If I were running Obama’s campaign, I would have Obama campaign with Bill Clinton next week in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan for a few days.” Excellent advice. But what does it say about the past two weeks that Obama needs to bring in Bill Clinton to get the focus back on his campaign?

WHEN ASSERTING YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS is a cause for suspicion.

BEST BUREAUCRATIC LINE OF THE WEEK: “Sexual relationships with prohibited sources cannot, by definition, be arms’ length.” At least, not unless . . . no, not going there.

IMPROVED DRUG DELIVERY with two-compartment nanoparticles.

FROM THE ARMED FORCES TO THE WORK FORCE: More and more employers are putting a high value on military experience. No big surprise there.

ROAD-TESTING a plug-in Prius in Britain.

ANN ALTHOUSE: Can the youth vote save Obama? “I predict that unless Obama is already on track to win by a good margin, the young voters won’t turn out in droves.”

IN THE MAIL: The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Power.

INSTA-POLL: A suggestion from reader Mike Hurt.

9/11, seven years later.

ROSS DOUTHAT VS. JACOB WEISBERG.

MAIMON SCHWARZSCHILD: A “reflex spasm of hatred.” They can’t help themselves. See below.

UPDATE: Howard Kurtz: “The media are getting mad.” I think it’s because they don’t matter as much as they once did.

JEFF JARVIS: The start of reverse syndication (and end of the AP?) “New Jersey’s Star-Ledger today put out an entire edition without anything from the Associated Press within. The sharp-eyed reader will notice lots of local news by staff plus articles from other papers–Washington Post, LA Times, McClatchy, the Glouceseter County Times–and content from online services such as Sportsticker. It’s one more nail in the heart of the AP as other papers cancel their contracts and more threaten to.”

JIM LINDGREN IS defending Obama for sending his kids to private school: “Personally, I compliment the Obamas for not using their children as political pawns to get elected or to reform society two children at a time. In my opinion, that makes the Obamas good parents.”

TOM SMITH IS NOT WON OVER by Jeffrey Rosen’s piece on Biden, which I linked yesterday.

“YOU DO THE MATH:” Because, apparently, the Washington Post can’t be bothered.

HOW OBAMA COULD REPLACE BIDEN: Christian Grantham is looking at the Democratic Party rules. I don’t see that happening, myself, but given the many surprises in this election cycle, who knows?

LAST NIGHT I LINKED TO the Amazon electoral map, but what I didn’t notice is that it’s gotten redder over the past few months — use the button at the upper right to look back in time. Does this mean anything for the election? Doubtful.

JIM TREACHER: “More and more it’s becoming apparent that Palin’s speech, although sent out to the world, had a target audience of one. The One! And boy, did she ever set up camp inside his head.”

UPDATE: London Times: What Sarah Palin Tells Us About Obama. “The character question it raises is not that he is a sexist or that he lacks courtesy. It is that he folds under pressure. Obama has looked amazingly uncomfortable under the pressure that Palin has put him under. He relies on his cool – it is a core part of his appeal. So he looks bad when he loses it. During the Hillary contest he rarely came under any pressure from the media. When he did he reacted badly.”

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: To see what was on this blog that day, start here and scroll up.

SOME CAMPAIGN PHOTOBLOGGING, at TigerHawk.

ANOTHER SARAH PALIN CRITICISM: “Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman.”

I dunno, she had me fooled. But perhaps she can respond, “Ain’t I a woman?” Apparently not. Who knew the standards were so strict?

UPDATE: “Desperate and Intimidated.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Obamania Makes Way for Palinmania. I guess this is why so many are losing their cool. But not Gail Collins!

Some better advice at Faithful Democrats: “Lay off Palin . . . Please!” They can’t help themselves, though.

MORE: See, I told you so: Comparing Sarah Palin to… Osama Bin Laden? Good grief. And there’s the lipstick, again.

STILL MORE: “A Christian Stepford Wife in a Sexy Librarian Costume.” Angry and bitter isn’t what wins over voters, you know . . .