Alcohol, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 2, 2017

Alcohol Use Makes Rats Crave Cocaine

If you give a mouse a cookie, you'll prompt it to seek something else, according to the popular children's book. Scientists recently observed similar behavior in experiments with rats — though the rewards were substantially less child-friendly. In a study examining the effects of addictive substances, researchers gave a group...

Nov 8, 2017

Drinking Alcohol Really Does Raise Your Cancer Risk, Doctors Warn

Drinking alcohol, even a light or moderate amount, increases the risk of several common cancers, according to a leading group of cancer doctors. This week, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued a statement identifying alcohol as a definite risk factor for cancer. The statement is intended to raise...

Nov 21, 2017

From Wild to Mild: How Different Types of Alcohol Affect Your Mood

The holidays are full of tasty treats and festive cocktails — but instead of Christmas cheer, some alcoholic beverages may cause other, less pleasant feelings, a new study from England suggests. In the study, researchers examined how consuming different types of alcohol, such as beer, spirits and wine, could affect...

Dec 14, 2017

Glass-Shattering! How Wineglass Size Has Changed Since 1700

This holiday season, will you view the glass as half full or half empty? Well, that might depend on the size of the glass. A new study from England finds that over the past three centuries, wineglasses in England have ballooned in size, from holding the equivalent of a double...

Jan 6, 2018

Here's How Alcohol Can Damage DNA and Increase Cancer Risk

Scientists think they know how alcohol damages DNA and increases the risk of cancer. Researchers in England conducted the study in mice, however, experts say that the mechanisms linking alcohol to DNA damage are the same in mice and men. Indeed, earlier studies have shown strong links between alcohol and...

Jan 18, 2018

How Many Drinks Could You Have If the Blood Alcohol Limit Is Lowered?

To help reduce drunk-driving deaths, the legal limit for a person's blood alcohol level while driving should be lowered from 0.08 to 0.05 percent, according to new recommendations from a scientific committee. The committee, which is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, made the recommendations...

Feb 1, 2018

Finally Solved: The Science of Cracking Open a Cold One (With The Boys)

Scientists have cracked a frothy mystery: the physics of fizz. Many people know that frothy drinks get their pop and sparkle from tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide bursting out of their liquid mix. They might also know from experience that the harsh skittering of seltzer across a tongue feels different...

Feb 5, 2018

Why You May Want to Avoid Drinking Piping-Hot Tea

A word of caution to tea lovers: Let your cuppa cool a bit before taking a sip. A new study from China finds that drinking tea at extremely high temperatures may increase a person's risk of esophageal cancer, especially if that person also consumes too much alcohol and is a...

Feb 5, 2018

Does Alcohol Really 'Clean' the Brain?

Just in time for that after-work cold one, a bevy of headlines are promising that a little bit of booze won't kill you; in fact, it might cleanse your brain and reduce your risk of dementia. So, what's the science behind this eyebrow-raising claim? Well, it's not necessarily as out-there...

Feb 21, 2018

No, Drinking Alcohol Won't Make You Live Past 90

Recent headlines touted a link between daily alcohol consumption and a nearly 20-percent decrease in mortality risk — but those findings may be clouding the true relationship between alcohol and good health. While a study of senior citizens did find a correlation between drinking two alcoholic beverages a day and...

Mar 17, 2018

17 Billion? How the CDC Estimated How Many Binge Drinks US Downs Each Year

Here's a number that's hard to swallow: U.S. adults consume more than 17 billion alcoholic drinks during binges each year, according to a new report. That works out to about 470 drinks per binge drinker per year, according to the report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)....

Apr 13, 2018

Drinking the Recommended Amount of Alcohol May Still Shorten Your Life

U.S. drinking guidelines are too boozy, according to a new study. The research, which analyzed data from nearly 600,000 people in 19 countries, found that drinking more than 100 grams of pure alcohol per week (the equivalent of about seven standard drinks in the United States) was linked to an...

Apr 13, 2018

Shaking Up Guinness Drinkers: Why a Martini Glass May Be Best for the Brew

Beer connoisseurs would certainly give you an odd look if you imbibed your Guinness from a martini glass. But one mathematician says this actually might be the best glass to serve Guinness in because it allows the beer's bubbles to settle faster. William Lee, a professor of mathematics at the...

Apr 13, 2018

You Could Drink This Man's Frostbitten, Amputated Toes in a Cocktail

After losing three toes to frostbite, a recent participant in one of the coldest long-distance races on Earth reached a toe-tally bizarre decision for what to do with the detached digits. During the race, which took place in February in the Canadian Yukon, British competitor Nick Griffiths suffered frostbite so...

Apr 23, 2018

Does Drinking Alcohol Raise the Risk of PMS?

Drinking alcohol may increase women's risk for premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, a new meta-analysis from researchers in Spain suggests. However, the review found only an association between drinking alcohol and PMS and didn't prove that drinking causes PMS or makes symptoms worse, the researchers said. PMS is a group of...