Science, what’s good?

Vaping ads lure teens

Why is vaping taking the globe by storm? Hint: it’s marketing. Yes, a new study shows that advertising works, especially on easily impressionable teens. The study from the University of Texas found that the use of e-cigs rose significantly with exposure to vaping ads but also that the more advertising media types the adolescents were exposed to, the stronger the nudge to vape became. It’s noted that only between 2011 and 2012, spending on vaping marketing in the U.S. tripled, reaching an estimated $18.3 million. Although there seems to be disagreement on how e-cigs should be treated from a health policy perspective, this study strongly suggests a similar course of action to the one we’ve seen in tobacco advertising.

Mantey et al. 2016, Journal of Adolescent Health

Moon yields secrets

The moon is a mysterious seductress, but in a victorious moment, a team of scientists managed to shed light on two of her darker secrets. The Southwest Research Institute scientists in fact managed to discover two new craters on the dark side of the moon. The craters were found with the use of the LAMP instrument aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). LAMP uses the far-ultraviolet Lyman-alpha band skyglow and light from ultraviolet-bright stars to “see” in the dark and image the permanently shaded regions of the Moon.

These craters were particularly hard to study due to their immense depth, which makes them really hard to catch any light whatsoever. The team also determined their age, namely 16 million for one and somewhere between 75 and 420 million years for the other, which makes them relatively young geologically. The discovery will hopefully shed light on the birth of our solar system.

Mandt et al. 2016, Icarus

Yellow fever spreading fast

Yellow fever (YF) has for the first time found its way into Asia. The findings come from a study from the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, which warns that if WHO doesn’t take action, we may risk a progression from an outbreak to an epidemic. Although the YF vaccine is very effective there remain many large unvaccinated populations. So far there have been 2420 cases reported and 298 deaths. From the total number of incidents though less than a third have been clinically assessed. However it is suspected that the extent of the outbreak is much more severe, with the reported cases amounting to only two to ten percent of the total incidents. If these estimates are correct, the combination of spread through mass global transport and vaccination shortages could lead to a global health crisis. The main vector, A. aegypti is also of concern, since populations have grown, as demonstrated by the Zika outbreak.

Wasserman et al. 2016, International Journal of Infectious Diseases

Babies should weigh just right

When babies are born prematurely, they’re often extremely light and are immediately put in an incubator. Some might develop health problems later on, a known complication being cardiovascular disease. Seldom though will a heavy newborn weighing above the five pound mark elicit gasps of dismay from its parents (“I’m sorry Mary… Our baby… it’s fat”). However a new study suggests that big babies might also have a higher chance of suffering from cardiovascular disease later on in life. The study looked at adolescents aged 14-18 and found that those with birthweight close to both ends of the spectrum were more likely to have dangerous fat around major organs. However, regardless of birthweight, the odds may be reversed with exercise and a healthy diet. The researchers behind the study give familiar advice: Don’t smoke when pregnant and breastfeed. The former may stunt babies at birth while the later may provide much needed protection.

Stansfield et al. 2016, Journal of Pediatrics.

Are frogs ok now? No.

It’s been many years now since amphibian communities started collapsing across the world. The global pattern has made many think that a single culprit lied in the epicentre of the crisis. Yet, despite the adoption of a range of approaches, nothing has been able to stave off the decline. A team of researchers from the U.S. analysed amphibian population trends across the continent and assessed the degree to which various threats contributed to the declines. They found that decline rate not only varies from region to region, but also that different factors such as human activity, or pesticide prevalence and of course disease (looking at you Chytrid fungus) contributed to the decline in different ways. Unfortunately the study doesn’t provide a simple fix, quite the opposite; it rejects the existence of a smoking gun , a single culprit and subsequently a single solution. Things are complicated and saving amphibians won’t be easy.

Grant et al. 2016, Scientific Reports