Alcohol, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 24, 2020

A woman's bladder 'brewed' its own alcohol, tripping drug test

When a woman in Pennsylvania needed a life-saving liver transplant, she repeatedly ran up against one vexing problem: She kept testing positive for alcohol — which disqualified her from a transplant — even though she swore she hadn't been drinking. Doctors would later discover that something quite strange was going...

Aug 24, 2020

Live Science podcast 'Life's Little Mysteries' Episode 48: Mysterious Beer

In this episode of Life's Little Mysteries, we'll take a closer look at an alcoholic beverage that has quenched thirsts for thousands of years and is one of the oldest chemistry experiments in the world: beer. How is beer made, and when did people start making it? How many different...

Sep 15, 2020

Squirrel beer, ant gin and poop wine are served up in Disgusting Food Museum's new exhibit

Gin brewed with ants. Poop wine. Whale testicle beer flavored with the smoked dung of Icelandic sheep. This beverage collection sounds like a menu at the world's worst Happy Hour, but it's actually part of a new exhibit at the aptly named Disgusting Food Museum in Malmö, Sweden. The museum...

Feb 14, 2021

Is champagne stronger than non-bubbly alcoholic drinks?

A oft-spoken piece of advice cautions those celebrating with a bottle of bubbly; allegedly, champagne makes you drunk faster than other beverages with similar alcohol content. But how much truth is there to this statement? In other words, do you need to exercise extra moderation with the champagne this Valentine's...

May 3, 2021

How many bubbles are in a glass of beer?

When you pour a glass of beer, a frothy cascade of fizz rises to the top; as more and more tiny bubbles coalesce, they form a nose-tickling layer of foam. At first, that frothy stream of carbonation seems endless. But just how many bubbles can emerge from a glass of...

Mar 10, 2022

Having just one drink a day can shrink your brain, new study finds

Drinking even a single pint of beer or glass of wine a day shrinks the brain, and the effect worsens as the daily drinks increase, a new study of middle-age and older adults suggests. The study, which surveyed over 36,000 U.K. middle-age and older adults, found that, on average, the...

May 19, 2022

What is vodka?

From its humble medieval origins as a medicinal agent, vodka has conquered the world. In 2020, the worldwide sales of vodka earned around $45 billion, and U.S. consumers alone guzzled 189.7 million gallons (862.4 million liters) of the potent alcoholic beverage, according to Beverage Dynamics, a national magazine focused on...

Jul 26, 2022

Does wine help you live longer?

A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away — or does it? From the French to the Sardinians, cultures in which people tend to drink wine daily have famously low rates of heart disease and lead longer lives, on average, than Americans do. But does drinking wine actually...

Aug 24, 2022

'Magic mushroom' psychedelic could treat alcohol addiction, trial finds

Psilocybin, the hallucinogen behind the trippy effects of magic mushrooms, may help people with alcohol use disorder cut down on or stop drinking when they take the drug in conjunction with talk therapy. In a recent clinical trial, the results of which were published Wednesday (Aug. 24) in the journal...

Sep 30, 2022

Why is alcohol used to preserve things?

If you've ever visited a laboratory or museum and admired a pristine eyeball or a tiny deceased critter floating in a glass jar, you've seen the preservation power of alcohol. The formal name of this technique is fluid preservation. Scientists have been relying on it since the 1600s to preserve...

Jan 10, 2023

What does alcohol do to the body?

Most people who drink alcohol will be familiar with the short-term effects of alcohol intoxication. The mild state of euphoria and feelings of relaxation are among the main reasons why humans have been producing and drinking alcohol for thousands of years, according to “Alcohol: Science, Policy and Public Health” (Oxford...

Aug 14, 2023

Gene therapy injection into the brain causes alcohol use disorder to stop — in monkeys

A new gene therapy that resets the brain's reward system could help treat alcohol use disorder, a new study in monkeys suggests. In monkeys who tend to drink heavily when provided lots of alcohol, surgically injecting a gene therapy into the brain increased the production of the so-called feel-good hormone...

Nov 23, 2023

Finally, scientists explain the dreaded 'red wine headache'

If you enjoy a shiraz or Chianti from time to time, you may be familiar with the dreaded red wine headache. That pain may stem from a compound called quercetin, which disrupts the body's ability to break down alcohol, scientists have discovered. Quercetin is an antioxidant found in fruit and...

Dec 25, 2023

Can drinking alcohol really cause hiccups?

A violent bout of drunk hiccups isn't the worst thing that can happen to you after having one too many beers, but it can certainly be irritating. Drunk hiccups are common enough that, in classic cartoons, a character hiccuping after downing a swig of alcohol is understood as meaning they're...

Jan 1, 2024

What happens to your body when you stop drinking alcohol?

Mocktails and so-called zero-proof beverages are growing commonplace on menus as more people opt to follow a sober curious or strictly teetotal lifestyle. Many are familiar with the Dry January challenge to stop drinking alcohol for a whole month, but recently, the trend of saying goodbye to the dreaded hangover...