MIT Technology Review - alcohol en Let Your Coaster Do the Talking <p>An interactive surface encourages conversation by letting coasters communicate.</p><p>Once the hallmark of lonely barflies, playing with your beer coaster could actually help you socialize, thanks to a smart bar surface that brings ordinary coasters to life. </p> Tue, 07 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0000 digitalservices 421914 at The Chemistry of Hangovers <p>In time for St. Patrick’s Day, an American Chemical Society video details why the morning after feels so bad.</p><p>When your head is pounding and you can’t stomach even a dry piece of toast, who among us has not asked why? Not, “Why did I drink so much?” but “Why is this happening to me?” </p> Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0000 digitalservices 418067 at A Way to Fix Lightweight Drinkers <p>A compound may repair a defective enzyme in people who metabolize alcohol poorly.</p><p>An estimated 40 percent of people of East Asian descent carry a defective copy of a gene involved in breaking down alcohol, making them more susceptible to the harmful effects of drinking, such as nausea, facial flushing and rapid heartbeat. The gene codes for an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), which breaks down a toxic metabolite of alcohol, acetaldehyde, into non-toxic acetate.</p> Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:00:00 +0000 digitalservices 417066 at My Brain on Booze <p>A unique EEG test reveals how alcohol sets the brain aglow.</p><p>It’s noon on a sunny day in San Francisco, and I’m trying to down a double vodka cranberry as fast as I can. Despite reporters’ reputation, drinking is not my typical lunchtime activity. Today I’m visiting neuroscientist Alan Gevins, who has spent the past 40 years developing better ways to analyze the electrical signals emanating from our brains and, in turn, to study how our ability to remember and pay attention changes with different drugs, with the neural glitches of disease, and with the decay of age. In 20 minutes or so, when the alcohol has brought my brain to its peak boozy state, Gevins’s team will measure how it has impacted my neurons as they struggle through a series of memory tests.</p> Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000 digitalservices 410048 at