How did you get such excellent penmanship?

I have Ulcerative Colitis, I had a psychiatrist jokingly mention to me during an appointment that nicotine helps reduce UC inflammation. He, of course, did not recommend I pick up nicotine usage. But I have always been curious if there is any merit to the idea that nicotine can help Ulcerative Colitis?

What is the most critical thing to focus on if you find yourself in your early 50s, still working full time, but with not quite enough saved for retirement? I know I likely won't 'catch up' but I'd like to maximize my savings as much as possible.

Why do you think credit card interchange fees are as high as they are? What are the advantages and disadvantages of high credit card interchanges fees and what are your views on credit cards in general and in relation to interchange fees?

What is the best part of working for the Washington Post?

Do you have an equivalent financial philosophy to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs when it comes to saving/investing money?

akin to 1) 401k 2) IRA 3) Standard brokerage account 4) HSA/Education accounts ?

If we all drive electric cars and start eating insects and fake meat will the fires stop?

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Another question, if I can :) This one is inspired by some answers given here and by conversations with work pals. Do you perceive dendrochronology as a science or as a technique? The discipline emerged several decades ago, and has been growing and developing since then. However, what it started as the study of tree-rings per se, now it looks like (imo) it is turning into a method one applies to solve a question, eg, to date past wildfires. What are your thoughts?

Is lowering my nicotine mg in my vapes a viable approach to quitting vaping for good? I started with 50mg, and I am currently on 20mg looking to gradually decrease my nicotine concentration until I reach zero.

Hi. I have been learning about cool burns effects on the Australian ecosystem and hope to implement the the technique. Do you see any benefits of fire in your part of the world? How receptive are you to fire being a positive and crucial part of ecosystems?

Thanks for the reply!

>I’ve never been a big tobacco user, but lately I’ve been using camel snus pouches. How bad are these for me?

See our response here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/10jkffc/comment/j5uw831/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

>I recently quit vaping after 7 years, and I currently use 6mg pouches. My question is, how would you say vaping’s health consequences compare to smoking, or say patches/gum?

We are still in the very early stages of understanding the long-term health consequences of vaping (it has only been around for 15 years) and are nowhere near that for oral nicotine pouches (although data on Snus can provide some insights). To the best of our knowledge, without going too deep into the nuances: gum / patch > oral nicotine pouch (leaf free) > vaping > oral pouches with leaf > smoking.

Great! I appreciate your response, and will check with my physician.

>Nicotine is used as a nootropic. What is your position on the beneficial effects of nicotine?

Nicotine has stimulant properties and some people who use nicotine and tobacco products do report using them for “cognitive enhancement.” There is limited research supporting these findings in very specific circumstances (like offsetting the negative effects of other substances, see: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-00012-001 or https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.13342). HOWEVER, while nicotine may provide some of the short-term positive effects that are associated with stimulant drugs like adderall, it is a chemical that can lead to dependence and long-term harm, including to cognition, and therefore we would not recommend using nicotine as a nootropic.

>Hi there thank you for answer any and all questions. My question is regarding cigar smoking. I enjoy on average 3-4 cigars a month, summer time maybe closer to 7-8 a month. Obviously with any type of smoking I understand that I have a higher chance of lung cancer than not smoking at all, but what type of long term negatives should I be aware of and how dangerous is it to have on average 3-4 cigars a month? Thank you

Regular cigar smokers have increased rates of oral cancer, esophageal cancer, and laryngeal cancer. More research on intermittent cigar smoking specifically would be helpful, but in its absence we can talk about light and intermittent cigarette smoking. Light and intermittent smoking has nearly the same impact on cardiovascular health as daily smoking. The risk for cancer is more dose-dependent, but there is still a large jump in risk versus non-smoking.

That’s a good question and I’m sorry you had to experience the 2020 fires in Canberra. I hope you and your family are ok. I’m not a wildland firefighter, but I’m aware that the truly catastrophic fires that some areas have experienced in recent years have outpaced fire management organizations and capacity. Unfortunately, studies and models suggest that with a continually warming climate and decades of successful fire suppression in many areas, wildfires will continue to threaten many communities. Prescribed fire, mechanical fuel reduction, and limiting flammable vegetation close to buildings in wildland urban interface areas can help reduce the frequency and intensity of wildfires.

Other efforts to increase community and homeowner resilience are going to be important. Research has shown that in many cases structures ignite from wind blown embers. There are many resources that provide recommendations for home hardening, another activity that can help reduce the impact of risks like that: https://wildfirerisk.org/reduce-risk/home-hardening/

The longleaf pine ecosystem, for sure! In North America, it is known to have the highest natural fire frequency. This is supported by the fire-scar record along with other lines of evidence like its high lightning activity and flammable vegetation type. Ponderosa pine also comes to mind, although fires in that ecosystem type weren’t quite as frequent and varied a lot with elevation.

>Are pipe tobacco and cigars less damaging than cigarettes? I’ve heard people say they don’t have all the additives (I don’t know if that’s true).

No, pipe tobacco and cigar smoke still contain many harmful toxicants and carcinogens, and regular cigar smokers have increased rates of oral cancer, esophageal cancer, and laryngeal cancer.

Probably outside of your domain but why are wildfires in Northern Europe so small? Sweden, a country with large amounts of pine timber has in my memory never had a forest fire the size you’d see here in North America or Russia.

I had only planned to answer questions until 1:00PM ET but it's been so fun answering all of your great questions that I had to keep going! It is actually time to hop off of here for now, though. I might have time later to return to some questions that I missed.

Thank you to everyone that joined today, and for all your great questions about fire ecology, dendrochronology, and wildland fire! If this has sparked your curiosity, and you have more questions, visit my website, (https://sites.google.com/view/monicarother/home), the Southern Fire Exchange (https://southernfireexchange.org), or any of the Joint Fire Science Program supported nationwide Fire Science Exchange Networks (https://www.firescience.gov/JFSP_exchanges.cfm).

From the fire-scar perspective, the earliest evidence dates back over 200 million years ago! Check out this article about a fossilized chunk of wood with an obvious fire scar!

https://www.livescience.com/47316-oldest-forest-fire-scar-fossil.html

Super helpful - familiar with state foresters but haven't see that report before.

Hi Monica, what did you make of the recent IAFW piece on controlled burning as a landscape management tool? I’ve got a particular interest in this as I’m currently writing about controlled burning for heather management here in the U.K. and the latest research that Andreas Heinemeyer and his team from York University has done