There are good fire alarms, but what if you are far out in the field? Then it’s up to your neighbors or to a passerby to hear them wailing and take charge of the problem. Not the best bet, is it? Well, you can always do one better with the Firetext SMS Smoke Alarm. It’s a great device for letting you know at once if your house gets too smokey via the messaging service. Full story

Active and passive smoking is joined by a new health hazard, the so-called third-hand smoke, revealed by researchers at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, the US. Full story

Whether a woman manages to give up smoking depends on her menstrual cycle, claim experts at University of Minnesota. The study conducted by the scientists involved 200 women trying to quit smoking. Half of the volunteers was in the “follicular” part of the cycle (just after menstruation ended and before ovulation), and the other half – in the “luteal” part (after ovulation and before the next menstruation started). Full story