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The case for less bad cigarettes
EDITORIAL
The case for ‘safer’ cigarettes It’s best to stop smoking. But we should welcome less unhealthy options for those who can’t quit MANY will doubt tobacco industry claims that it is sharpening its science to evaluate “healthier cigarettes”. But that’s what will happen if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gets the job of regulating the industry, as a Senate vote on the issue was expected to decide this week (see page 8). Then the health agency will be placed in the bizarre situation of deciding whether to approve new versions of products that have killed millions. Radicals will argue that the only way of preventing tobacco-related death and disease is to ban cigarettes, not encourage more tobacco products onto the market – even if they might be safer. However, a ban is unlikely, and so helping people to quit, dissuading teens from smoking in the first place and helping people avoid second-hand smoke should remain at the heart of health policies. Such measures have already cut the number of US smokers from around 50 per cent of the population in the 1960s to around 20 per cent today – but this is still well short of the US government’s target of 12 per cent by 2010. Abstinence cannot be the only policy, however. Pragmatists will see the sense of
safer cigarettes. There is a hard core of people who cannot or will not give up, and safer cigarettes could also help in poorer parts of the world, where more and more people are taking up smoking: the World Health Organization predicts that by 2030 more than 80 per cent of tobacco-related deaths will be in low to middle-income countries. We need to find new ways of cutting the risks of tobacco. Nicotine replacements are one solution; reduced-harm products like modified cigarettes or e-cigarettes – gadgets that look like cigarettes and dispense inhalable nicotine – might be another. Without robust science to back up the claims of safety,
“Abstinence cannot be the only policy. Pragmatists will see the sense of safer cigarettes” however, they could make things worse, as has happened before. The marketing of “light”, “ultra-light” and “low-tar” cigarettes led many smokers to believe that these were healthier alternatives to stronger brands, yet we now know that they cause just as much cancer. The tobacco industry has a poor history of transparency when it comes to research. Tobacco companies are now developing biomarkers to assess risk more accurately. They should be applauded, but only if they are prepared to subject their research to tough scrutiny. FDA regulation may force them to do this. It should also make the labelling of cigarettes even clearer, so that consumers understand the relative risks. Only good science can cut through the smokescreen that for decades has obscured the hazards of cigarettes. ■
Seeking out the engineers of terror SPOOKS are kept awake at night by the knowledge that there is no reliable way to spot a potential terrorist. Now, after trawling data since the 1970s, a study has found that engineers are three to four times as likely as other graduates to belong to a violent Islamic group in the Muslim world (see page 26). The researchers suggest that this link may be to do with personality, and say there is some evidence that engineers are more likely to be intolerant of ambiguity, believe society can be made to work like clockwork, and to dislike democracy because it involves compromise. Any new insight into what makes a terrorist is always welcome. But, given that this is a weak correlation and the word “engineer” covers such a dizzying array of disciplines, this one is unlikely to be useful. ■
Pandemic worms WHEN a window pops up saying that your PC’s security software needs updating, the temptation is to click it away with irritation. The story of the Conficker worm (page 36) shows what the consequences can be. This malicious software has seized control of more than 3 million computers and is using them to send billions of spam emails. If this were the only consequence, it might be easy to dismiss. But as its threat becomes clearer, Conficker is a timely reminder that our attitudes to computer security need updating too. ■
What’s hot on NewScientist.com MEDICINE Virtual body parts take guessing out of surgery Personalised simulations of live body parts means doctors could soon be testing treatments on your virtual twin before you undergo the real thing ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR Junk food stunts growth of young suburbanites In suburban America, crow parents are opting to feed their young easier-to-find, less nutritious food – and it is having a detrimental effect on their chicks
SPACE Free-floating black hole may solve space ‘firefly’ mystery Astronomers are still struggling to explain a mysterious object that flared and dimmed in 2006. A rogue black hole might be to blame
PSYCHOLOGY Why your brain just can’t remember that word Tip-of-the-tongue moments and déjà vu are phenomena that reveal our brains’ occasional slip-ups. Now we’re a little closer to understanding both experiences
BLOG Meet the real 40-year-old virgins Despite the caricature portrayed in the recent hit film, little is known about middle-aged adults who have never had sex. A new US survey has changed all that
TECH Computer generated sounds shape up Even the most visually stunning computergenerated movies use sound effects captured in the traditional way. Hear a new computer model that is set to
change that. It makes realistic water sounds by simulating the tiny bubbles that cause splashing noises ENERGY Preparing for chaos in the electricity grid Controlling a few hundred power stations to provide the nation with electricity is relatively easy. But what happens when people start to produce their own power with millions of microgenerators? For breaking news, video and online debate, visit www.NewScientist.com
13 June 2009 | NewScientist | 5
The case for ‘safer’ cigarettes It’s best to stop smoking. But we should welcome less unhealthy options for those who can’t quit MANY will doubt tobacco industry claims that it is sharpening its science to evaluate “healthier cigarettes”. But that’s what will happen if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gets the job of regulating the industry, as a Senate vote on the issue was expected to decide this week (see page 8). Then the health agency will be placed in the bizarre situation of deciding whether to approve new versions of products that have killed millions. Radicals will argue that the only way of preventing tobacco-related death and disease is to ban cigarettes, not encourage more tobacco products onto the market – even if they might be safer. However, a ban is unlikely, and so helping people to quit, dissuading teens from smoking in the first place and helping people avoid second-hand smoke should remain at the heart of health policies. Such measures have already cut the number of US smokers from around 50 per cent of the population in the 1960s to around 20 per cent today – but this is still well short of the US government’s target of 12 per cent by 2010. Abstinence cannot be the only policy, however. Pragmatists will see the sense of
safer cigarettes. There is a hard core of people who cannot or will not give up, and safer cigarettes could also help in poorer parts of the world, where more and more people are taking up smoking: the World Health Organization predicts that by 2030 more than 80 per cent of tobacco-related deaths will be in low to middle-income countries. We need to find new ways of cutting the risks of tobacco. Nicotine replacements are one solution; reduced-harm products like modified cigarettes or e-cigarettes – gadgets that look like cigarettes and dispense inhalable nicotine – might be another. Without robust science to back up the claims of safety,
“Abstinence cannot be the only policy. Pragmatists will see the sense of safer cigarettes” however, they could make things worse, as has happened before. The marketing of “light”, “ultra-light” and “low-tar” cigarettes led many smokers to believe that these were healthier alternatives to stronger brands, yet we now know that they cause just as much cancer. The tobacco industry has a poor history of transparency when it comes to research. Tobacco companies are now developing biomarkers to assess risk more accurately. They should be applauded, but only if they are prepared to subject their research to tough scrutiny. FDA regulation may force them to do this. It should also make the labelling of cigarettes even clearer, so that consumers understand the relative risks. Only good science can cut through the smokescreen that for decades has obscured the hazards of cigarettes. ■
Seeking out the engineers of terror SPOOKS are kept awake at night by the knowledge that there is no reliable way to spot a potential terrorist. Now, after trawling data since the 1970s, a study has found that engineers are three to four times as likely as other graduates to belong to a violent Islamic group in the Muslim world (see page 26). The researchers suggest that this link may be to do with personality, and say there is some evidence that engineers are more likely to be intolerant of ambiguity, believe society can be made to work like clockwork, and to dislike democracy because it involves compromise. Any new insight into what makes a terrorist is always welcome. But, given that this is a weak correlation and the word “engineer” covers such a dizzying array of disciplines, this one is unlikely to be useful. ■
Pandemic worms WHEN a window pops up saying that your PC’s security software needs updating, the temptation is to click it away with irritation. The story of the Conficker worm (page 36) shows what the consequences can be. This malicious software has seized control of more than 3 million computers and is using them to send billions of spam emails. If this were the only consequence, it might be easy to dismiss. But as its threat becomes clearer, Conficker is a timely reminder that our attitudes to computer security need updating too. ■
What’s hot on NewScientist.com MEDICINE Virtual body parts take guessing out of surgery Personalised simulations of live body parts means doctors could soon be testing treatments on your virtual twin before you undergo the real thing ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR Junk food stunts growth of young suburbanites In suburban America, crow parents are opting to feed their young easier-to-find, less nutritious food – and it is having a detrimental effect on their chicks
SPACE Free-floating black hole may solve space ‘firefly’ mystery Astronomers are still struggling to explain a mysterious object that flared and dimmed in 2006. A rogue black hole might be to blame
PSYCHOLOGY Why your brain just can’t remember that word Tip-of-the-tongue moments and déjà vu are phenomena that reveal our brains’ occasional slip-ups. Now we’re a little closer to understanding both experiences
BLOG Meet the real 40-year-old virgins Despite the caricature portrayed in the recent hit film, little is known about middle-aged adults who have never had sex. A new US survey has changed all that
TECH Computer generated sounds shape up Even the most visually stunning computergenerated movies use sound effects captured in the traditional way. Hear a new computer model that is set to
change that. It makes realistic water sounds by simulating the tiny bubbles that cause splashing noises ENERGY Preparing for chaos in the electricity grid Controlling a few hundred power stations to provide the nation with electricity is relatively easy. But what happens when people start to produce their own power with millions of microgenerators? For breaking news, video and online debate, visit www.NewScientist.com
13 June 2009 | NewScientist | 5