News - Page 9 of 299 - Forces International

‘Exaggerations’ threaten public trust in science

‘Exaggerations’ threaten public trust in science, says leading statistician 
David Spiegelhalter, president of Royal Statistical Society, says sloppy attitude to statistics leads to misleading claims and draws parallels to rise of fake news’ 
A sloppy attitude towards statistics has led to exaggerated and unjustified claims becoming commonplace in science, according to one of Britain’s most eminent statisticians.

By webmaster, 7 years ago

The hi-tech war on science fraud

One morning last summer, a German psychologist named Mathias Kauff woke up to find that he had been reprimanded by a robot. In an email, a computer program named Statcheck informed him that a 2013 paper he had published on multiculturalism and prejudice appeared to contain a number of incorrect calculations – which the program had catalogued and then posted on the internet for anyone to see. The problems turned out to be minor – just a few rounding errors – but the experience left Kauff feeling rattled. “At first I was a bit frightened,” he said. “I felt a bit exposed.” 

By webmaster, 7 years ago

Advocates Resist Tobacco Regulation

Smokers’ Rights Advocates Resist Tobacco Regulation in Indonesia 
 
If you smoke in Indonesia — and chances are high that you do, as the country is on track to have the world’s highest smoking rate within the next decade — you’re likely a fan of kreteks, the clove cigarettes that are omnipresent in the island nation. Named after the crackling sound that cloves make as you smoke them, kreteks account for as much as 90 percent of all cigarette consumption in Indonesia.

By webmaster, 7 years ago

Cigarette sales increase as health campaigns fail

Cigarette sales increase as health campaigns fail to stub out smoking 
New figures suggest smoking is becoming more popular in the Netherlands again, ending a five-year downward trend. A total of 10 billion cigarettes were lit up in 2016, 200m more than in the year before, the AD reports. The finding comes from the annual SUN report drawn up by accountancy firm KPMG for the tobacco industry, which looks into illicit cigarette trade in the European Union. It appears to confirm figures from the CBS indicating that smoking, especially among the young, is on the increase.

By webmaster, 7 years ago

UN Just Called for Decriminalizing Drug Use

American Media Silent After UN Just Called for Decriminalizing Drug Use Worldwide 
A little-noticed public statement issued by the United Nations last week contains a dramatic shift in thinking on the issue of “illicit” substance use. After recommitting to the failed idea of prohibition just last year, the UN is now calling for the worldwide decriminalization of drug use and possession.

By webmaster, 7 years ago

Being anti-smoking damages your mental health

I lit a cigarette in an open-air car park a couple of years ago as I was walking to the exit. I noticed a Nissan Micra heading towards me from the far corner and thought at first it was going to run me over. But it pulled up alongside and a woman put her head out of the window. ‘Do you realise that other people have to breathe in your smoke,’ she snarled, ‘including people like me, who have cancer.’ There was nobody within 50 yards of me, apart from this deranged woman who had driven double that distance simply to register her hatred.I wondered for a while about the root of her rage and its curious displacement on to me.  

By webmaster, 7 years ago

Optimistic About Vapor

<p style="color: rgb(28, 28, 28); font-family: Ubuntu, Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Perhaps the most encouraging sign the industry will continue on a positive trajectory is the confirmation of Scott Gottlieb as the new FDA commissioner with a 57–42 vote in the U.S. Senate last month. Gottlieb previously had a relationship with Kure, an e-cigarette manufacturer.
<p style="color: rgb(28, 28, 28); font-family: Ubuntu, Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“There’s some reason for optimism about the possibility of smart reform on these products because he’s a nominee who seems to understand these products,” said Conley.

By webmaster, 7 years ago

America’s new tobacco crisis

After decades of lawsuits, public campaigns and painful struggles, Americans have finally done what once seemed impossible: Most of the country has quit smoking, saving millions of lives and leading to massive reductions in cancer. 
 
That is, unless those Americans are poor, uneducated or live in a rural area.

By webmaster, 7 years ago

Smoking on the rise in France despite

Attempts by the French government to discourage the population from smoking appear to have burnt out as new figures reveal a rise in the number of smokers. 
It’s perhaps a cliché that the French love their cigarettes, but as they say, there’s no smoke without fire.In fact new figures reveal that even despite the French government’s controversial efforts to turn the population off cigarettes, the number of people smoking has gone up.

By webmaster, 7 years ago

Bills would overhaul Michigan smoking laws

Newly-introduced legislation would make sweeping reforms to smoking laws in Michigan. 
 
A bill introduced by Rep. Tommy Brann, R-Wyoming, would hike the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. It would also prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes, chew, cigars, pipes and hookahs to those under 21.

By webmaster, 7 years ago