Researchers from University College London estimate that use of e-cigarettes produced 16K-22K additional long-term quitters in England in 2014.1 A long-term quitter is someone who has not smoked for at least one year.

The UCL team has been tracking the rapid rise in use of e-cigarettes using monthly national surveys and estimates that in 2014 almost 900,000 smokers used one of these products to try to quit (see "Electronic cigarettes in England - latest trends" (ref STS140122) at http://www.smokinginengland.info/latest-statistics/).

HAMILTON, March 1, 2016 - As scientists step up their search for other life in the universe, two astrophysicists are proposing a way to make sure we don't miss the signal if extraterrestrial observers try to contact us first.

René Heller and Ralph Pudritz say the best chance for us finding a signal from beyond is to presume that extraterrestrial observers are using the same methods to search for us that we are using to search for life beyond Earth.

Here on Earth, space researchers are focusing most of their search efforts on planets and moons that are too far away to see directly. Instead, they study them by tracking their shadows as they pass in front of their own host stars.

Researchers have discovered one reason why adolescents are more prone to drug addiction than adults, with findings that could lead to new treatments for addictive disorders.

In two studies with mice and humans to be published together in the journal eLife, the investigators from Baylor College of Medicine, US, have found that the ability to produce (or synthesize) new proteins, regulated by the molecule eIF2, accounts for adolescents' hypersensitivity to both cocaine and nicotine.

The post-translational addition of ubiquitin to proteins by enzymes of the E3 ubiquitin ligase family is largely recognized as a means to target misfolded or unwanted proteins for degradation by the proteasome. However, it is now understood that ubiquitination serves as a signal to modify a number of cellular functions such as protein trafficking, cell signaling, DNA repair, chromatin modifications, cell-cycle progression, and cell death. Though these functions are integral for all cells throughout the body, the physiologic role of specific E3 ligases must yet be defined in the context of various tissues. For example, very few studies exist that interrogate the function of specific E3 ubiquitin ligases in the reproductive system.

New psychology research from the University of Otago, Warwick Business School, and University of California, San Diego, is helping explain why male faces with feminine features are considered attractive in some contexts but not others.

The study findings provide a new explanation for why the "Johnny Depp Effect" - which involves women tending to prefer men with more feminine faces - holds in some contexts, but not in others.

The international research team has found that when people are asked to rate the attractiveness of gender-blended face morphs they tend to judge them as less appealing if they are first asked to classify the face as male or female.

Skimping on sleep has long been associated with overeating, poor food choices and weight gain. Now a new study shows how sleep loss initiates this process, amplifying and extending blood levels of a chemical signal that enhances the joy of eating, particularly the guilty pleasures gained from sweet or salty, high-fat snack foods.

The findings were published Feb. 29, 2016, in the journal SLEEP.