Today in “Bringing Stuff Back From the Dead” Science News:
- Ancient yeast found Incan tomb resurrected, scientists immediately use it to make booze: An Incan tomb was discovered in Quito, Ecuador in the 1980’s that housed more than a dozen well-adorned Incan corpses. They were surrounded by food and drink offerings in large clay urns, similar to more familiar Egyptian customs, including an Incan alcoholic brew called chicha. Scientists revived the long-dormant Candida relatives and used them to recreate the beverage, which they of course drank. Read the full story at SciAm.
- Squirrels bury seeds 30,000 years ago, humans find them frozen in permafrost, still make flowers: Thanks to an ancient Russian squirrel choosing a burrow that became buried in Siberian permafrost, Russian scientists were able to coax seeds into fully-formed flowers after millennia in deep freeze. Ed Yong has the whole tale, which sounds a lot like the beginning of Ice Age.
The Whisky Water Trick
By using the power of density, Casey Neistat changes the destiny of the whiskey from bottom to top.
The heavier water displaces the lighter alcohol, and they trade places. WHy anyone would waste time with a shot glass of water is beyond me.
(by Casey Neistat)
A Toast to the Chemistry of Champagne
You gonna be poppin’ da Cris tomorrow night? You might want to uncork this chemistry lesson, then. From fermentation to the perfect pour, all the science behind the bubbles.
Cue “Tiiiiiiiiny bubbles …”
(by BytesizeScience)
Four Loko Is Just Like The Copenhagen Philharmonic … sort of.
Rejoice, Four Loko lovers!
Your beloved beverage may have been unfairly targeted as dangerous. Some recent research points to the fact that the booze may have packed such a punch because it was disguised as non-booze, consciously and subconsciously. Or, if you drink alcohol that isn’t presented as alcohol, your body gets drunker off of it.
“If a dog learns that there is an association between meat powder and the sound of a bell, then the sound of the bell alone will become sufficient to induce salivation in the dog. The salivation indicates that the dog is preparing for the arrival of the meat powder. Similarly, a social drinker inevitably learns the association between the effects of alcohol and the environment in which they drink. At the same time, the body learns to prepare for the alcohol, and it begins to do so in response to the environment, before the alcohol is even ingested. The net effect of the alcohol therefore decreases over time, which leads the drinker to drink more.
Taken together, Siegel’s argument is convincing: people become especially drunk after drinking Four Loko because of the unexpected way in which it is presented: it doesn’t actually taste like alcohol. The caffeine probably isn’t the problem at all!”
(via The Thoughtful Animal)
Study: Lots of people drink alcohol at sporting events
Wow, thanks science, you don’t say!
“Alcohol, like caffeine, has an enormous reputation but loose understanding in popular culture. Learn how it’s absorbed and how fast, why it’s essential to reality TV altercations, its paradoxical sexual effects, and its life-lengthening potential, whether red wine or Bud Light.”
Lifehacker debunks some booze myths and lists some alcohol science. Know your buzz, folks!
Are drinking games sports? | Discoblog
In today’s “That’s where our research money is going,” I bring you this study out of the University of Washington:
French scientists get paid to pour champagne. I think more people should support booze-related research in the US. Sign me up! I have a bourbon-cancer study in the pipeline!
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