In Brief

UNDERAGE SMOKING Teen smoking declined in the 1980s but has increased more than one-third in the past decade. A new study says lower cigarette prices and law-bending retailers are responsible for the rise. When prices drop, more teens begin smoking. And more retailers are selling tobacco to underage kids. In Georgia, minors working undercover with police were sold cigarettes 53% of the time.

ONE OF THE FAMILY Convinced that you and your dog should be on better speaking terms? Well, you can get there with a little practice. In his new book, How to Speak Dog, Stanley Coren claims that a dog has the intellect and vocabulary of a two-year-old child--but humans must learn to interpret their canine's nonverbal noises, tail wags and other body language. A sample: for dogs, a yawn is not a sign of fatigue but of anxiety. And each of those wags can tell a variety of stories, depending on posture and pace. More about Coren's theories can be found at ANIMALNEWS.COM.

COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU For new parents, a night at the movies usually means a video rental. Noisy babies are not the most welcome seat fillers at most movie houses, and families are often asked to leave at the first wail. But a growing number of theaters are accommodating parents who want a first-run film experience complete with big screen, Dolby sound and children. The Sonoma Cinemas chain has created soundproof glass rooms in the back of theaters for families. And the independent Parkway Theater in Oakland, Calif., is credited with the creation of "cry nights," special showings at which the audience is made up only of parents and infants.