Finally, Science Gets Something Right

The year is 1955. Gasoline (leaded, thank you) costs 23 cents a gallon. America finally breaks its unholy alliance Satan by adding "In God We Trust" to all U.S. paper currency. Rosa Parks becomes the unwitting inspiration for an Outkast song. James Dean's tragic death draws him comparisons among the highly prescient to the unborn Heath Ledger.

And science is on a roll – Atomic power. Velcro. Legos.

But how about this doozy, from Yale professor Dr. Leon A. Greenberg: Beer cannot get you drunk.

Ah yes, 1955. The good old days of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, James Dean (until Sept. 30, of course), and good, sound science. Let's go back to those simpler times, please.

Craft Beer on NPR

Beer, brewing, and homebrew were the topics of yesterday's Science Friday on NPR.

Check it out.

As if You Needed Another Excuse

More beer, fewer heart attacks.

Eight healthy reasons to drink beer.

Sobering Science

Things are starting to get confusing.

On Monday, I boldly declared beer to be "brain food." Now, a new study from the Czech Republic dares to suggest the opposite.

According to Dr. Thomas Grim (an appropriate name for the bearer of such bleak news) of Palacky University, the amount of beer a scientist consumes is inversely proportional to the likelihood that he or she gets a paper published or has a paper cited by other researchers. In other words: drink, and watch your CV go down the crapper.

It appears this phenomenon is not limited to just the heaviest-drinking members to the scientific community; rather, the relationship holds across the board.

I should note here that the Czech Republic leads the world in per capita beer consumption. I'm not sure what, if any, implication that has for the present study, except that perhaps the curve which describes moderate to heavy drinkers is steeper there than elsewhere. Just a WAG.

Sodden scientists take heed: consider zymurgy.