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The research, from scientists at Imperial College London, examined e-cigarette use -- and attitudes to the devices -- across Europe between 2012 and 2014. The paper, published in the journal  Tobacco Control , found that the proportion of people in the UK who had tried an e-cigarette had increased from 8.9 per cent to 15.5 per cent -- higher than the European average. The research also showed the proportion of people across Europe who considered the devices dangerous had also nearly doubled, from 27 per cent to 51 per cent. E-cigarettes work by delivering nicotine into the lungs in the form of a vapour. The devices contain nicotine in a solution of either propylene glycol or glycerine and water, and sometimes flavourings. When a person sucks on the device, a sensor detects the air flow and heats the liquid inside the cartridge, causing it to evaporate. Experts fiercely debate whether the devices help people give up smoking, and if they are safe -- with some studies raisi...

Indeed, Pavlovian cues that predict alcohol can lead us toward addiction. And sometimes those cues can become desirable in and of themselves, as shown in a new study published in  Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience  by researchers from Concordia University in Montreal. "Alcohol addiction is compounded by our ability to learn about predictive cues," says Nadia Chaudhri, the study's lead author and professor in the Department of Psychology. "Conditioned reactions to those cues can trigger behaviours that result in drinking, like turning into the SAQ or reaching for a beer." The results of the study suggest that cues that predict alcohol can become highly desirable; therefore, people may keep drinking because of the pleasure derived from our interactions with them. According to this research, drinkers wishing to make a change in their habits shouldn't just focus on the booze itself, but on all the factors that surround alcohol consumption. "M...