Microscopic Worms Could Help Open Up Travel Into Deep Space

Animals fed RNAi vector control for 4 d from L1 larvae developed into normal adults in GC and spaceflight conditions. These animals also displayed GFP expression in oocytes and embryos in GC and spaceflight. Animals fed gfp RNAi for 4 d also developed normally to adulthood in GC and spaceflight, and demonstrated a loss of GFP expression in both GC and spaceflight. Scale bars represent 50 µm. (Credit: Etheridge T, Nemoto K, Hashizume T, Mori C, Sugimoto T, et al. (2011) The Effectiveness of RNAi in Caenorhabditis elegans Is Maintained during Spaceflight. PLoS ONE 6(6):e20459)

 

Science Daily ( A space flight by millions of microscopic worms could help us overcome the numerous threats posed to human health by space travel. The Caenorhabditis elegans(C. elegans) have also given experts an insight into how to block muscle degradation in the sick and elderly.

Many of C. elegans' 20,000 genes perform the same functions as those in humans. Experts in human physiology from the School of Graduate Entry Medicine wanted to study the effectiveness of RNA interference (RNAi), a tried and tested technique which regulates gene expression in diseased tissue, and whether this technique could be employed to reduce or control the dramatic muscle loss experienced by astronauts during spaceflight.The worms -- from The University of Nottingham -- were flown into space onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. They spent 11 days in orbit onboard the International Space Station more than 200 miles above Earth.

The results of this research, published June 1, 2011 in the journalPLoS ONE, have shown that RNAi, which is already the subject of more than a dozen clinical trials to target illnesses ranging from cancer to asthma, functions normally in space flight and could be used as a viable option to treat and control muscle degradation in spaceflight. Their discovery will not only be of interest to astronauts but will also help people who suffer from muscle wasting caused by illness and old age.

Dr Nathaniel Szewczyk from the Division of Clinical Physiology said: "It was really a quite straightforward experiment. Once the worms were in space the scientists onboard the International Space Station treated them with RNAi and then returned them to us for post flight analysis. These results are very exciting as they provide a valuable experimental tool for spaceflight research and clearly demonstrate that RNAi can be used effectively to block proteins which are needed for muscle to shrink."

During the flight a series of experiments were carried out by Japanese scientists onboard the International Space Station. When the flight samples were returned to Nottingham the results were analysed by Dr Timothy Etheridge, in the Division of Clinical Physiology.

Timothy Etheridge said: "We were very pleased that, given the numerous problems associated with conducting research in space, our experiments went as planned and allowed us to demonstrate that this form of gene therapy works effectively during spaceflight. The unexpected finding that RNAi can effectively block protein degradation in muscle in space was also a very welcome surprise."

The experiment was part of the Japanese CERISE payload and funded as parts of a $1m (£0.6m) United States National Institute of Health grant to investigate the genetic basis of muscle atrophy and a £0.5m Medical Research Council grant to investigate how physical forces prevent muscle wasting. The recently installed Kibo lab is being used for the study of biomedicine and material sciences making use of the weightless conditions experienced in orbit.

Biological experiments in space need life support -- oxygen, temperature control and pressure -- so competition for space on manned flights is fierce and in short supply.

The origins of Dr Szewczyk's worms can be traced back to a rubbish dump in Bristol. C. elegans often feed on bacteria that develop on decaying vegetable matter.

Retina Holds the Key to Better Vision in Deaf People

Close-up of retina in human eye.

(Credit: © LightScribe / Fotolia )

Science Daily  People who are deaf benefit from better vision due to the fact their retinas develop differently, experts at the University of Sheffield have shown.

Using retinal imaging data and correlating this with measures of peripheral vision sensitivity, a team led by Dr Charlotte Codina and Dr David Buckley from the University's Academic Unit of Ophthalmology and Orthoptics, have shown that the retinal neurons in deaf people appear to be distributed differently around the retina to enable them to capture more peripheral visual information. This means that in deaf people, the retinal neurons prioritise the temporal peripheral visual field, which is what a person can see in their furthest peripheral vision, i.e. towards your ears.The research, which was funded by RNID -- Action on Hearing Loss and published June 1, 2011 in the journalPLoS ONE suggests that the retina of adults who are either born deaf or have an onset of deafness within the very first years of life actually develops differently to hearing adults in order for it to be able to capture more peripheral visual information.

Previous research has shown that deaf people are able to see further into the visual periphery than hearing adults, although it was thought the area responsible for this change was the visual cortex, which is the area of the brain that is particularly dedicated to processing visual information. This research shows for the first time that additional changes appear to be occurring much earlier on in visual processing than the visual cortex -- even beginning at the retina.

The team also found an enlarged neuroretinal rim area in the optic nerve which shows that deaf people have more neurons transmitting visual information than hearing.

The findings were collected after the experts used a non-invasive technique called ocular coherence tomography (or OCT) to scan the retina. OCT works in a similar manner to ultrasound however uses light interference as opposed to sound interference.

Using this technique, it was possible to map the depth of retinal architecture including the depth of the neuron layer (retinal nerve fibre layer depth) and dimensions of the components of the optic nerve. All adults involved in the research were either severe/profoundly deaf or hearing and had their pupils dilated just before the retinal scans were taken. On a separate visit the participants had their visual fields measured in either eye to compare the retinal scan information with visual behaviour. The changes in retinal distribution were significantly correlated with the level of advantage individuals were showing in their peripheral vision.

Dr Charlotte Codina said: "The retina has been highly doubted previously as being able to change to this degree, so these results which show an adaptation to the retina in the deaf really challenge previous thinking.

"This is the first time the retina has been considered as a possibility for the visual advantage in deaf people, so the findings have implications for the way in which we understand the retina to work. Our hope is that as we understand the retina and vision of deaf people better, we can improve visual care for deaf people, the sense which is so profoundly important to them."

Dr Ralph Holme, Head of Biomedical Research at RNID -- Action on Hearing loss, says: "The better peripheral vision experienced by people who are deaf, in comparison to those who hear, has significant benefits for their everyday lives -- including the ability to quickly spot hazards at the boundaries of their view. This research substantially improves our understanding of how changes in the retina create this advantage, and could help researchers identify ways to further enhance this essential sense for people who are born deaf.

Color Red Increases the Speed and Strength of Reactions

Science Daily ( What links speed, power, and the color red? Hint: it's not a sports car. It's your muscles. A new study, published in the journal Emotion, finds that when humans see red, their reactions become both faster and more forceful. And people are unaware of the color's intensifying effect.

The findings may have applications for sporting and other activities in which a brief burst of strength and speed is needed, such as weightlifting. But the authors caution that the color energy boost is likely short-lived.

"Red enhances our physical reactions because it is seen as a danger cue," explains coauthor Andrew Elliot, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester and a lead researcher in the field of color psychology. "Humans flush when they are angry or preparing for attack," he explains. "People are acutely aware of such reddening in others and it's implications."

But threat is a double-edged sword, argue Elliot and coauthor Henk Aarts, professor of psychology at Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. Along with mobilizing extra energy, "threat also evokes worry, task distraction, and self-preoccupation, all of which have been shown to tax mental resources," they write in the paper. In earlier color research, exposure to red has proven counterproductive for skilled motor and mental tasks: athletes competing against an opponent wearing red are more likely to lose and students exposed to red before a test perform worse.

"Color affects us in many ways depending on the context," explains Elliot, whose research also has documented how men and women are unconsciously attracted to the opposite sex when they wear red. "Those color effects fly under our awareness radar," he says.

The study measured the reactions of students in two experiments. In the first, 30 fourth-through-10th graders pinched and held open a metal clasp. Right before doing so, they read aloud their participant number written in either red or gray crayon. In the second experiment, 46 undergraduates squeezed a handgrip with their dominant hand as hard as possible when they read the word "squeeze" on a computer monitor. The word appeared on a red, blue, or gray background.

In both scenarios, red significantly increased the force exerted, with participants in the red condition squeezing with greater maximum force than those in the gray or blue conditions. In the handgrip experiment, not only the amount of force, but also the immediacy of the reaction increased when red was present.

The colors in the study were precisely equated in hue, brightness, and chroma (intensity) to insure that reactions were not attributable to these other qualities of color. "Many color psychology studies in the past have failed to account for these independent variables, so the results have been ambiguous," explains Elliot.

The study focused exclusively on isometric or non-directional physical responses, allowing the researcher to measure the energy response of participants, though not their behavior, which can vary among individuals and situations. The familiar flight or fight responses, for example, show differing reactions to threat.

Evolutionary Biologist's Work May One Day Help With Chronic Diseases: New Understanding of Environmental 'Fitness

UH evolutionary biologist Tim Cooper and his team have discovered some surprising things about gene mutations that might one day make it possible to predict the progression of chronic disease. (Credit: Thomas Campbell)

(Science Daily ) — Working to better predict general patterns of evolution, a University of Houston (UH) biologist and his team have discovered some surprising things about gene mutations that might one day make it possible to predict the progression of chronic disease.

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UH evolutionary biologist Timothy Cooper and his colleagues describe their findings in a new paper appearing June 3 in the journalScience.

"The motivation for this experiment comes from wanting to understand the factors involved in the evolution of organisms to better 'fit' their environment," Cooper said. "The lack of information on how mutations interact with one another has been a major gap in predicting how populations evolve. Our work shows how we can perform experiments to fill this gap, giving us a better understanding."

Cooper and his team focused on a bacterial population that had been evolved for thousands of generations such that its fitness had increased by approximately 35 percent over its ancestor. In identifying the beneficial mutations that arose in the population and adding all possible combinations of these mutations to the ancestor strain, however, they found that combinations of mutations acted in a surprising, yet simple, way. The more mutations the researchers added, the more they interfered with each other. It was as if the mutations got in each other's way as they all tried to accomplish the same thing.

It was found that the beneficial mutations allowing the bacteria to increase in fitness didn't have a constant effect. The effect of their interactions depended on the presence of other mutations, which turned out to be overwhelmingly negative.

"These results point us toward expecting to see the rate of a population's fitness declining over time even with the continual addition of new beneficial mutations," he said. "As we sometimes see in sports, a group of individual stars doesn't necessarily make a great team."

Putting in about five years on this project thus far, Cooper says this work represents just the start of their efforts in trying to find general patterns that will help them predict some aspects of how populations will evolve. With improved understanding of interactions, it might be applicable not only to natural bacterial populations, but also bacterial populations that evolve in a person.

In addition to Cooper, the UH team on this project consisted of former post-baccalaureate student Aisha Khan and postdoctoral fellow Duy Dinh. Professors Richard Lenski from Michigan State University and Dominique Schneider from Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France, also contributed to this study. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the majority of the experimental aspects of the work were done at UH.

A similar study from the lab of Chris Marx at Harvard University is being published in Science simultaneously with Cooper's paper. Marx studied interactions between beneficial mutations arising in a different bacterium evolving in a different medium, yet also found a general trend toward diminishing returns.

Sunlight scrambles pollutants

Sunlight scrambles pollutants

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

University of Sydney scientists have discovered a startling new mechanism where sunlight can rearrange the atoms of molecules to form new chemical substances. The research, by Professor Scott Kable, Dr Meredith Jordan and collaborators at the School of Chemistry, is published in a recent issue of Nature Chemistry. It has implications for the extent that pollutants are dispersed across the Earth's surface, and how quickly they are removed. Until now, chemical models of the atmosphere assumed a molecule emitted into the atmosphere stays fixed as that molecule, until it is either photolysed (broken up) by sunlight, or attacked by other molecules. Professor Kable and Dr Jordan have now overturned this theory using a common, small pollutant molecule, acetaldehyde, in a lab-based experiment that substituted a laser light for the sun. "We chose a special variant of the acetaldehyde compound, where three of the four hydrogen atoms were replaced with 'heavy hydrogen' (called deuterium)," Professor Kable explains. "While not changing any of the chemical or photochemical properties to any significant extent, this subtle chemical change did allow us to follow the photochemical reactions with much more detail." Professor Kable says conventional atmospheric models predicted that acetaldehyde should simply break in half when it absorbs light. "Our experiments showed that the atoms in the molecules were instead extensively scrambling - specifically the hydrogen and deuterium atoms were scrambling - before the acetaldehyde broke apart." Acetaldehyde is converted into various other chemical compounds during the scrambling process. The most important of these is an alcohol (vinyl alcohol) which has very different photochemical properties to acetaldehyde and is removed from the atmosphere by different processes. "Our research shows that compounds such as acetaldehyde, when emitted to the atmosphere, will transform into other substances before the sun has a chance to destroy them," Professor Kable says. "If molecules are being transformed by sunlight, then the chemistry of the atmosphere is much more complicated than we have considered up until now." Although this work changes scientific understanding of how pollutants are dispersed through the atmosphere, Professor Kable is careful to note it won't change global warming models. "Nearly all carbon-based compounds in the atmosphere end up as CO2 eventually. It won't change models of CO2 loading in the atmosphere," he says. The article 'Near-threshold H/D exchange in CD3CHO photodissociation', by Meredith Jordan and Scott H Kable et al, is published in Nature Chemistry, 23 May 2011.

Zombie computers used for crimes

Zombie computers used for crimes

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Regular updates are essential to stay ahead in the day-to-day battle against cyber crime. Image: webphotographeer/iStockphoto About one in five home computers and one in 10 work computers have been taken over and used to conduct illegal activity, a University of Sydney cyber security expert says. One of Australia's biggest cyber security vulnerabilities lies in unpatched systems, those which haven't been updated with the latest defences from software providers, says Professor Michael Fry from the School of Information Technologies. "These regular update requests can be a nuisance but are essential to stay ahead in the day to day battle against cyber crime," he says, concurring with advice offered during National Cyber Security Awareness Week. "Unpatched computers are vulnerable to becoming zombies, whereby they are taken over by a remote botmaster, incorporated into botnet networks and used for illegal activities such as issuing spam, phishing attacks and Distributed Denial of Service attacks." Professor Fry says there is a strong suspicion in cyber security circles that governments have used botnets to sabotage neighbouring countries' IT systems. A new cyber security course to be taught at the University's Centre for International Security Studies this month will look at Australia's vulnerability to such attacks at both the national and organisational level. The first of its type to be taught at an Australian university, the course will examine the threats faced in the cyber realm and how they impact the way we govern, do business and interact. "Of course we need to understand the technical detail of cyber crime in order to keep ahead of the game but we want people to think more broadly about cyber security," says CISS director Professor Alan Dupont. "Cyber security is possibly the biggest security threat facing Australia and needs to be looked at from legal, ethical and strategic perspectives. We are stressing the importance of how cyber attacks are conducted, why and by whom, in order to enhance understanding of systems' susceptibility to attacks. "If we don't get on top of this in a defensive sense, everything on a computer network is vulnerable to attack."

‘Hedgehog’ silencer halts cancer

‘Hedgehog’ silencer halts cancer

GARVAN INSTITUTE

'Hedgehog' acts as a switchboarrd, transmitting biochemical signials between the cancer cells and healthy cells. Image:Henrik5000/iStockphoto While it is already known that breast cancer cells create the conditions for their own survival by communicating their needs to the healthy cells that surround them, Australian researchers have identified a new way of turning off that cellular cross talk. They have shown that a molecule known as ‘hedgehog’ sits at the centre of the switchboard in breast cancer, transmitting biochemical signals between the cancer cells and healthy cells. When this conversation is blocked – or hedgehog is ‘silenced’  – tumours shrink and stop their spread. While the finding applies to all breast cancers, it is particularly relevant for women with basal breast cancer, for which there is no current targeted therapy. The good news is that drugs for silencing hedgehog are already undergoing Phase 2 clinical trials in other cancer types. Clinical Associate Professor Sandra O’Toole and Dr Alex Swarbrick, from Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, analysed breast tumour samples from a cohort of 279 women with advanced breast cancer, revealing that the higher the level of hedgehog, the more aggressive the cancer. Having discovered high levels of hedgehog in some breast cancer patients, they went on to over-produce the protein in mouse models of basal breast cancer. Mice developed tumours that grew and spread through the body rapidly. When hedgehog was blocked, the tumour growth and spread were significantly slowed. These findings are published in the prestigious international journal Cancer Research, online today. “We are hopeful that our findings will drive the progress of clinical trials for anti-hedgehog drugs in breast cancer,” said Dr Alex Swarbrick. “Finding an effective drug target for basal breast cancer is a very high priority. It is often referred to as ‘triple negative disease’, because it doesn’t produce any of the oestrogen, progesterone or HER2 receptors, targets of the drugs tamoxifen and Herceptin, which are very effective in other breast cancers.” A/Prof O’Toole, also a pathologist at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, undertook the study as part of her PhD. “These findings may provide some hope to the many women who succumb to breast cancer each year, especially the basal sub-type, although obviously it is early days,” she said. “More work in animal models is needed to understand exactly how best to block this pathway.” “Our study demonstrates that starving breast cancer cells of hedgehog significantly slows their growth and spread.”

வாழ்க வள்ளுவம்:வளர்க தமிழ்!!!! பொருட்பால்:படையியல்!!!! படைமாட்சி:அதிகாரம்77/133

by Keyem Dharmalingam 

வாழ்க வள்ளுவம்:வளர்க தமிழ்!!!!

பொருட்பால்:படையியல்!!!!

படைமாட்சி:அதிகாரம் 77/133

761.

உறுப்பமைந்து ஊறஞ்சா வெல்படை வேந்தன்

வெறுக்கையுள் எல்லாம் தலை.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177334"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

A conquering host, complete in all its limbs, that fears no wound,

Mid treasures of the king is chiefest found.

Explanation :

The army which is complete in (its) parts and conquers without fear of wounds is the chief wealth of the king.

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762.

உலைவிடத்து ஊறஞ்சா வன்கண் தொலைவிடத்துத்

தொல்படைக் கல்லால் அரிது.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177335"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

In adverse hour, to face undaunted might of conquering foe,

Is bravery that only veteran host can show.

Explanation :

Ancient army can alone have the valour which makes it stand by its king at the time of defeat, fearless of wounds and unmindful of its reduced strength.

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763.

ஒலித்தக்கால் என்னாம் உவரி எலிப்பகை

நாகம் உயிர்ப்பக் கெடும்.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177336"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

Though, like the sea, the angry mice send forth their battle cry;

What then? The dragon breathes upon them, and they die!

Explanation :

What if (a host of) hostile rats roar like the sea ? They will perish at the mere breath of the cobra.

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764.

அழிவின்றி அறைபோகா தாகி வழிவந்த

வன்க ணதுவே படை.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177337"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

That is a host, by no defeats, by no desertions shamed,

For old hereditary courage famed.

Explanation :

That indeed is an army which has stood firm of old without suffering destruction or deserting (to the enemy).

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765.

கூற்றுடன்று மேல்வரினும் கூடி எதிர்நிற்கும்

ஆற்ற லதுவே படை.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177338"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

That is a 'host' that joins its ranks, and mightily withstands,

Though death with sudden wrath should fall upon its bands.

Explanation :

That indeed is an army which is capable of offering a united resistance, even if Yama advances against it with fury.

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766.

மறமானம் மாண்ட வழிச்செலவு தேற்றம்

எனநான்கே ஏமம் படைக்கு.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177339"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

Valour with honour, sure advance in glory's path, with confidence;

To warlike host these four are sure defence.

Explanation :

Valour, honour, following in the excellent-footsteps (of its predecessors) and trust-worthiness; these four alone constitute the safeguard of an army.

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767.

தார்தாங்கிச் செல்வது தானை தலைவந்த

போர்தாங்கும் தன்மை அறிந்து.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177340"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

A valiant army bears the onslaught, onward goes,

Well taught with marshalled ranks to meet their coming foes.

Explanation :

That is an army which knowing the art of warding off an impending struggle, can bear against the dust-van (of a hostile force).

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768.

அடல்தகையும் ஆற்றலும் இல்லெனினும் தானை

படைத்தகையால் பாடு பெறும்.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177341"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

Though not in war offensive or defensive skilled;

An army gains applause when well equipped and drilled.

Explanation :

Though destitute of courage to fight and strength (to endure), an army may yet gain renown by the splendour of its appearance.

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769.

சிறுமையும் செல்லாத் துனியும் வறுமையும்

இல்லாயின் வெல்லும் படை.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177342"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

Where weakness, clinging fear and poverty

Are not, the host will gain the victory.

Explanation :

An army can triumph (over its foes) if it is free from diminution; irremediable aversion and poverty.

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770.

நிலைமக்கள் சால உடைத்தெனினும் தானை

தலைமக்கள் இல்வழி இல்.

இணைப்பினை அழுத்தி குறட்பாவினை இனிய இசையில் விளக்கத்துடன் கேட்டு மகிழுங்கள்.

<a onClick='window.open("http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=177343"

Translation by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev W. H. Drew,Rev. John Lazarus and Mr F. W. Ellis

Though men abound, all ready for the war,

No army is where no fit leaders are.

Explanation :

Though an army may contain a large number of permanent soldiers, it cannot last if it has no generals.

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குறட்பா இணைப்புக்களை சேமித்துக் கொள்ளுங்கள் நண்பரே!!! எப்போது வேண்டுமானாலும் எந்த குறள் வேண்டுமானாலும் உங்கள் குழந்தைகளுடனோ, நண்பர்களுடனோ இனிய இசையில், விளக்கத்துடன் தமிழில் கேட்டு மகிழ உதவியாக இருக்கும். ஆங்கிலத்திலும் போப், அவர்களால் மொழிபெயர்க்கப்பட்டு விளக்கத்துடன் கொடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. மேலும் வேறு மொழிகளில் பதிவுகள் கிடைத்தால் நண்பர்களுடன் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ள விருப்பம் உண்டு. விருப்பம் உள்ள அன்பர்கள் நண்பர்கள் தொடர்பு கொள்ளவும். நன்றி.......அன்புடன் கே எம் தர்மா....

It's time to stand up for smokers' rights

It's time to stand up for smokers' rights

JOHN HUMPHREYS

Perhaps it is inevitable that people will always need to find a minority to hate. Whether it is based on race, or sex, or sexual preference, or lifestyle choice, or language, or religion, or personal habits... the instinct to discriminate, to distrust "different" people, and to enforce conformity is a constant theme throughout history and throughout the world. If this instinct was purely personal, then it would not be a big issue. People could simply choose to associate with those people they prefer, and we could all live in peace. But sadly, many groups want to use the government to force their bigotry on others.

Over the past 100 years there have been some great improvements in social policy, as the government removed most of their discrimination based on race, religion, sexual preference and sex. There are a few outstanding issues (women in the military, gay adoption rights, special rules for Aborigines) but on the whole we now have less official discrimination in these areas. Sadly, not all minorities have been this lucky.

While some minorities become popular political causes, other minorities are on the receiving end of negative political populism. Politically correct campaigners will loudly support the "good minorities" such as GLBT or immigrant groups, but they are equally loud in their condemnation of the "wrong minorities". This seems to indicate that we are not becoming more tolerant... we are simply switching our bigotry on to other areas.

Some of the biggest victims of this modern discrimination are smokers.

Immediately the anti-smoking bigots will insist that they are not really bigoted, because smokers deserve to be punished. Of course, that is exactly what the racists, sexists and homophobes say. 

Most people want to consider themselves a "good person", and so bigots often feel the need to create artificial reasons to justify their intolerance. The excuses range from the plain wrong to the desperate, but the common theme is that in all cases the freedom of smokers is considered irrelevant. If a "good minority" was dismissed this quickly there would be cries of pain from an outraged media and a horde of moralising pundits. But when it comes to smokers... the "moral police" join the lynch mob and declare smokers guilty by definition.

One of the first lines from the bigots is that smoking is bad for you. True, but so what? Lots of things are bad for you, but life is about more than longevity. 

People often make trade-offs between "quality of life" and "quantity of life". We make many decisions that will marginally increase our chance of death, but for a benefit. People choose to go skiing, or sky-diving, or motorbike riding, or drinking, or working in a mine, or eating fatty food, or playing contact sports... knowing that there is a health risk but determining that the benefit is worth the cost. In a free society, people should be free to make their own life decisions.

The health Nazis don't get this point. They really seem to think that the whole purpose of life is to live for as long as possible... and if you ever make an "unhealthy" decision, then you are simply wrong and need to be controlled by your owner the government. A whole army of these anti-fun fanatics have been put together in the Preventative Health Taskforce, so that the government knows exactly how to micro-manage your life. 

As the IPA explained, "The Taskforce recommends 39 accords, scorecards, standards, reviews, action research projects, frameworks, compacts, programs, partnerships, systems, initiatives, criteria, surveys, strategies, agencies, curricula and campaigns for obesity alone". In New Zealand, the fun police have even claimed that when you have two drinks in a night, you are officially "irrational" and therefore had no fun. (Read Eric Crampton's response here.)

At the core, the idea here is that smokers are just "wrong" and they need to be fixed. As a Facebook friend recently put it, "since you do not act like an adult but like a 13-year-old kid that thinks that smoking is cool, the government has to set limits to your destructive and anti-social behaviour". 

Sadly, the author didn't even seem to notice the totalitarian nature of his sentence. Imagine the response if somebody made the same comment about one of the "good minorities".

Thankfully, when most normal people are pushed they admit that people should be free to choose their own lifestyle. The debate then turns to "externalities".

The first externality used to justify anti-smoking intolerance is the health costs of smoking that fall on the taxpayers because of our socialist health system. Again, there is truth in this claim. The most obvious solution would be to introduce a smokers-premium on health insurance, but that would require health policy reform, which is always difficult in our modern welfare-democracy (note, private health providers already have a smokers premium). 

So the next best thing might be to set the tax rate to cover the marginal health costs of smokers. The logic seems fool-proof... until you realise that smokers already pay over 16 times their marginal health costs in tobacco tax. The government's National Drug Strategy report estimated net health costs of $318.4 million per year in 2004/05 (this may be an overestimate as it does not count the savings from dead smokers not getting the pension). In the same year the tobacco excise was $5,237 million. 

Since then, tobacco excise rates have increased by 50 per cent, from $0.22 per cigarette up to $0.33 per cigarette.

So if this was the real reasons for the bigotry, then as soon as the bigot hears the facts they should immediately agree to a massive tax cut on tobacco. Do you think that's likely?

At some point, the "passive smoking" externality argument will come up. There is some evidence that people who live in close contact with heavy smokers for several decades have a marginally higher risk of health problems. While this evidence is often exaggerated, the balance of probability suggests the risk is real. Passive smoking is being used to ban smoking in all manner of places - including office buildings, restaurants, pubs, near doorways, cars, and even parks. But this argument falls apart quickly once you introduce the concept of "private property rights" and free movement. 

With private property rights, each person can decide the rules on their property... and other people can make a free decision whether they enter that property or not. Some people will ban smoking indoors (which is fairly common these days) while some may allow smoking. If you enter a place that has smoking, you have accepted the passive smoking cost voluntarily, just as if you voluntarily paid a cover charge or voluntarily smoked a cigarette yourself. Voluntarily agreeing to the terms of entry means that passive smoking on private property is not an externality.

Some confused souls may claim that buildings are not "private property" if many people like to go there. Of course, this makes no sense. Private property simply means that some person or group (not the government) owns the property... and this doesn't stop being true just because a place is popular. And the main point necessary for the "private property" solution to work is that the owner is able to set the rules and people are free to go where they want. This isn't changed when/if a place becomes popular.

Other confused souls will admit that consumers have a choice about where to go, but employees don't have the same choice. Again, this makes no sense. There are many jobs with different levels of risk, and people can decide whether they are willing to accept those risks before they apply for the job. Nobody is forced to work in mining (which is more dangerous than passive smoking), but some people make that choice. Nobody is forced to work on ski fields (which is risky), but some people make that choice. Likewise, nobody would be forced to work at a smoking pub, but some people will make that choice. There are benefits and costs to all jobs, and each person should be free to make their own choices.

The health impact, health costs and passive smoking excuses don't hold up, so the anti-smoking bigot will need to find another excuse.  The amazing thing about this debate is that as the anti-smoking arguments are destroyed... the soulless bureaucratic prudes never seems to question their intolerance. It is as if the intolerance is a starting point, and the actual arguments are an after-thought.

The latest excuse, and the last refuge of a scoundrel, is the "what about the children" argument. In one sense, this argument is fool-proof. Everybody agrees that children need to be protected, and so if you can imply even a hint of a child getting hurt then you can justify all sorts of government action. It is interesting to note that this was a significant argument used against mixed race marriages, and is one of the main arguments currently used against gay rights. The "what about the children" argument is also the throw-away line used to justify the welfare state (putting aside the significant damage that welfare dependency does to children).

It is true that children might be somewhere near a smoker through no choice of their own (ie by choice of the parents), and that this may marginally increase health risks. But there are many parts of parenting that will dramatically increase or decrease health risks, life expectancy, life experience, education levels, social interactions, happiness, and opportunities. Ultimately, parenting decisions need to be left to parents, who are in the best position to make the delicate trade-offs involved in parenting. The vast majority of parents will not be intentionally blowing smoke in the faces of their children... and if there is a parent doing that then it is likely there are much bigger problems at play. 

Given that we are willing to tolerate much more significant parenting mistakes and more consequential child-rearing decisions, then it is hypocritical to suddenly insist that having a smoking parent is an unforgivable sin. Further, even if you insist that the government should set strict mandates about exactly how to bring up a child, this has no relevance for the many smokers who don't have children.

Against these fragile fig-leaves of excuses for bigotry we have the simple fact that millions of innocent Australians want to be left alone to enjoy their own lifestyle choices. Smokers are not inferior people less deserving of freedom. Their preferences do matter, and their choices should be respected. You don't have to like smoking to agree with this point - you simply need to show a bit of tolerance and accept that the world includes many different types of people, and there is room enough for all of us. Even the "wrong" minorities.

John Humphreys is the editor-in-chief of Menzies House, which launched thewww.stopgillardscarbontax.com website.