"While ecigs can generally be a lower-risk alternative for adults who smoke cigarettes, the use of ecigs is not risk-free......While nicotine pouches can generally be a lower-risk alternative for adults who smoke cigarettes, the use of nicotine pouches is not risk free." www.fda.gov/tobacco-prod...

"Cytisinicline significantly increased quitting for smokers with and without COPD and was well tolerated. The findings support cytisinicline as a viable treatment for smokers with COPD who want to quit." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40962497/

NNAL is a metabolite of NNK, a potent lung carcinogen. This study shows the urine NNAL concentration in adult regular cigarette smokers and exclusive nicotine e-cig users 2013-2018. NNAL is consistently >95% lower in ecig users than smokers. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

How the myth that nicotine causes cancer is hurting public health (and making us all stupider!...[I know that's not a word]). www.statnews.com/2025/09/10/n...

So... I did some analysis of grants that did receive noncompetitive renewals. In particular, I looked a those award where the title of the grant changed. Warning: The results are just what I expected, but oooph... 1/4

What a chart from BMO: The NY Fed survey expectations of regaining employment after losing a job (in red, lowest since 2013) vs. the unemployment rate (inverted).

A new study led by Cristine Delnevo, Director of Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies (INTS), suggests that nicotine pouches may offer a path to reduced tobacco harm ➡️ jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

"Ever, current, and daily Nicotine Pouch use was virtually nonexistent for tobacco-naive adults.....having quit cigarette smoking, especially since 2019, was significantly associated with daily pouch use". In 2022-23 <0.2% of US adults were daily NP users. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Good! www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-r...

iSENZIA™ heats a tea-based substrate to generate an inhalable nicotine aerosol. It has far lower toxicant delivery than cigarettes, but also has a much lower nicotine delivery than cigarettes (Cmax around 6 ng/ml).This is NOT "satisfactory" for most smokers. www.frontiersin.org/journals/tox...

Interesting report on reduction in USA tobacco tax revenue, largely due to sharp declines in cigarette smoking. www.gao.gov/assets/gao-2...

On the left is a rabbit. On the right is an elephant. But guess what: They’re the *same image*, rotated 90°! In @currentbiology.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I show how these images—known as “visual anagrams”—can help solve a longstanding problem in cognitive science. bit.ly/45BVnCZ

August 19 2925 is #WorldPhotographyDay2025 so here are a few for starters

A mesmerizing time-lapse of the Sun in ultraviolet light, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft over the course of a month.

Nature in Central Pennsylvania.

Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act. (not George Orwell) I tell you the truth: Freedom is what is best. Never live your life like a slave (William Wallace, probably)

Nature in Central Pennsylvania.

Nature in Central Pennsylvania.

Among people who use heroin, tobacco smoking and illegal drugs cause a similar number of premature deaths buff.ly/tIC0Fqp @danlewer.bsky.social @tattanbirch.bsky.social @sharoncox.bsky.social

EXTORTION: The act of getting something, especially money, by force or threats.

Simple explanation of who pays tariffs. When Trump says "we've brought in Billions in tariffs", as if it was paid by foreign governments, he is actually admitting how much more taxes (tariff=import tax) are being paid by US companies and individuals. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvXy...

A Cooper's Hawk getting escorted out of the air space by a Barn Swallow.

Hypnotized by the blue mosaic of head scales on this spectacular panther chameleon. 💠 Video by @kammerflagekreations [IG] #nature #colors #reptile

I didn't do it, but I wish I had.

2024 was the first year in living memory in which US adult cigarette smoking prevalence dropped below 10%. Coincidentally the last quarter in 2024 was also the first quarter in which adult ecig use prevalence went over 8%. 90% of US adults don't smoke cigarettes. The times they are a changing.

Participants randomized to the highest nicotine ecig showed improvements in some measures of blood lipids (eg, increased HDL) as compared with a non-aerosol cigarette substitute among individuals attempting to reduce their cigarette smoking. bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6...

Beautiful Cliffs of Moher, Ireland.

Scenes from Scotland, where it has been unusually warm and sunny this week.

This new paper by Dr Sitasnu Dahal and our team presents the effects of nicotine ECIGS on a wide range of health markers in a large placebo-controlled RCT. Surprisingly those randomized to high nicotine ecigs had improved lipid profiles relative to placebo. bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6...

Anyone going to the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin next week? I hope to see you on Tuesday 26th, when I will be presenting on "A randomized controlled trial of very low nicotine cigarettes plus ecigs in people with psychiatric disorders." worldtobaccocontrol.org

Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

NPR's 1A show, hosted today by Elliot Williams, included a discussion of electronic cigarettes with Sarah Todd, reporter at STAT, Mitch Zeller, former director of FDA's Center for Tobacco Products and myself. Transcript & audio here: the1a.org/segments/in-...

Wildwood Park. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

From day 1 at Penn State College of Medicine, and repeated at graduation, Penn State College of Medicine biomedical graduate students pledge an oath to Integrity, Professionalism and Scholarship. med.psu.edu/education/ac...

In July 2017, FDA announced a plan to "to render cigarettes minimally addictive or non-addictive by regulating their nicotine levels." Nothing threatens the cigarette industry more, or promises to improve health in the United States more, than implementation of this plan. www.fda.gov/news-events/...

Sunset over Annville, PA.

Wildlife in Central Pennsylvania.

Cigarettes deliver nicotine very rapidly, plus thousands of toxic chemicals. Cigarettes deliver at least 20x more harmful toxicants than non-smoked nicotine products. (McNeill et al, 2022). Time to provide life-saving treatment for tobacco addiction. www.appi.org/Products/Add...

Red-winged blackbird at Middle Creek, PA

Oh yes, my photo of Loch Lomond made it to the 2025 edition of Wild Onions! sites.psu.edu/wildonions/

Some animals spotted on my drive home from work yesterday.

I just came across a link to scholargps.com for the first time. Couldn't find it on wikipedia so I assume it is new. Is this a useful site, widely used, reliable?

Everyone in the past was neurotypical, which is how we got things like this single-author, eight-volume encyclopedia of ferns

80% if U.S. adults support a policy proposed by both the Trump (2016) and Biden (2020) administrations to lower the permissible nicotine content in cigarettes and cigars to non-addictive levels. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40199553/

Bald eagle and herons above Swatara Creek, PA.

When smokers with no plans to quit, try an ecig that can deliver nicotine almost like a cigarette, does this help them to quit cigarette smoking completely, as compared to trying to reduce without an ecig or with a placebo? Yes, as shown in this RCT: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...