Official "Science News" Thread

[rogue]

Mysterious 'sparks' on the sun could help scientists predict solar flares

How Dogs Perceive Time

The Visibility Of Stars In The Night Sky Has Declined Faster Than Previously Thought

The Digital Future of Mental Health Therapy

LITTLE KIDS CAN TELL GOOD EXCUSES FROM BAD ONES

NASA Recaps Webb Telescope Findings From AAS Meeting

How does the human brain create consciousness, and why?

Acting Out Dreams Predicts Parkinson’s and Other Brain Diseases

Free Will Is Only an Illusion if You Are, Too

What Time Is It on the Moon?

Artificial intelligence aids discovery of super tight-binding antibodies

Network Neuroscience Theory – The Best Predictor of Intelligence

One Third of the Amazon Has Been Degraded by Human Activities

Traffic pollution impairs brain function

Calming Kids With Electronics May Affect Emotion Regulation Skills

HOW SYNAPSE IN THE INNERMOST EAR KEEPS US STEADY

How Failing Could Actually Help us Succeed

[rogue]

3 incredible examples of citizen science in action

HEALTHIEST NOISE LEVEL FOR THE OFFICE IS ABOUT 50 DECIBELS

Why Do We Hold On To Clutter?

Physicists stored data in quantum holograms made of twisted light

Why do high IQ people stagnate in their careers? Emotional intelligence

How Scientists Are Using AI to Talk to Animals

Why More Physicists Are Starting to Think Space and Time Are ‘Illusions’

Why We’re Suddenly Spotting Spy Balloons

How Supergenes Beat the Odds—and Fuel Evolution

Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a window to understanding the brain

Meet the socially savvy AIs beginning to understand human intentions

A Quantum Explanation for Gravity Could Generate the Theory of Everything

Scientists Attempt to Map the Multiverse

Using Curiosity Archetypes to Bring Applied Curiosity to Work

Neuroplasticity And The Brain Science Behind Exceptional Leadership

[rogue]

‘Wrinkles’ in time experience linked to heartbeat

Ancient DNA Sheds Light on Europe’s Hunter-Gatherers

Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’ spark conservation row

Mystery of Ancient Space Superstorms Deepens

Highlight facts or appeal to feelings? The psychology of persuading individuals to contribute to a collective goal

New Color-Changing Coating Could Both Heat and Cool Buildings

Marvelling at the mystery of consciousness through a scientific lens

The Milky Way may be spawning many more stars than astronomers had thought

Gene Drives Could Fight Malaria and Other Global Killers but Might Have Unintended Consequences

Scientists Are Creating Something Wild: Organoid Intelligence

How to Handle People Who Are Eternally Evasive

How did life begin? One key ingredient is coming into view

Love and the Brain: Do Partnerships Really Make Us Happy? Here's What the Science Says

Chemical signals from fungi tell bark beetles which trees to infest

Studies of unusual brains reveal critical insights into brain organization, function

Body Am I: The New Science of Self-Consciousness

NASA is mapping duststorms from space with this new high-tech device

Are Artificially-Enhanced Minds the Future of Communication?

[rogue]

Revolutionary Material May Solve Key Quantum Computing Issue for IBM and Google

A Beneficial Psychedelic That Does Not Cause Hallucinations

What Makes Humans Tick? Exploring the Brain’s Sensory Network to Understand Threat Perception

Dizzy apes provide clues on human need for mind altering experiences

Humans are leaving behind a 'frozen signature' of microbes on Mount Everest

DNA from Beethoven’s hair hints at what killed the composer

Astronauts that hibernate on long spaceflights is not just for sci-fi. We could test it in 10 years.

There’s a Psychological ‘Vaccine’ against Misinformation

Ham Radio Operators, We Need Your Help During Solar Eclipses

People With Personality Disorders Are More Likely to Sign Up for Psychology Studies

[xilman]

Originally Posted by rogue

Dizzy apes provide clues on human need for mind altering experiences

Note: not just great apes.

Elephants are known to wait for fallen fruit to ferment before eating it. Afterwards they have been observed to stumble around as if completely pissed out of their minds, falling over in some cases. If you are the mass of an elephant, falling is not a good idea..

There is some evidence that pigs also get drunk as a matter of choice.

I know from experience that rats also like drinking booze: a customer at an Oxford pub I frequented used to bring along her pet rat where it would drink beer from a (clean) ashtray and eat peanuts fed to it by customers. (We would suck the excess salt off the nuts first because we knew that too much salt is bad for you.)

A news report some years back showed a crow flat on its back in a bar after drinking too much beer. It recovered each time from a frequent occurrence.

I suspect that all species with a well-functioning ADH gene actually enjoy the mind-altering effects of ethanol.

[rogue]

Originally Posted by xilman

Note: not just great apes.

Elephants are known to wait for fallen fruit to ferment before eating it. Afterwards they have been observed to stumble around as if completely pissed out of their minds, falling over in some cases. If you are the mass of an elephant, falling is not a good idea..

There is some evidence that pigs also get drunk as a matter of choice.

I know from experience that rats also like drinking booze: a customer at an Oxford pub I frequented used to bring along her pet rat where it would drink beer from a (clean) ashtray and eat peanuts fed to it by customers. (We would suck the excess salt off the nuts first because we knew that too much salt is bad for you.)

A news report some years back showed a crow flat on its back in a bar after drinking too much beer. It recovered each time from a frequent occurrence.

I suspect that all species with a well-functioning ADH gene actually enjoy the mind-altering effects of ethanol.

The summary of the article:

Great apes deliberately spin themselves in order make themselves dizzy -- findings which could provide clues about the role of altered mental states for origins of the human mind.

This isn't the same as getting drunk. Maybe a variant of it WRT getting to a mind-altering state.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by rogue

<snip>
Dizzy apes provide clues on human need for mind altering experiences
<snip>

There are videos online of squirrels that have eaten fermented fruit and being too drunk to climb. Some kinds of butterflies feed on fallen fruit on the ground, and can get tipsy if the fruit is fermented. Likewise, birds feeding on fermented fruit get drunk. They can usually still fly, but will blunder into things.

I'm not sure to what degree the creatures actually seek to get drunk.

There was a documentary program on PBS many years ago called "Puss 'n' Booze." It was about an experiment in which a cat was subjected to some sort of stress (a blast of air IIRC), and learned that drinking alcohol would calm its nerves. The poor creature actually got addicted to alcohol and would intentionally undergo the air blast in order to get a drink. It took a long time to get the cat off the sauce.

I vaguely remember reading a Chicago newspaper article many years ago about birds getting into (I think) the Art Institute. The staff needed to get them out, but was having no success trying to catch them. Finally, someone had the idea of putting out cakes of bird seed that had been soaked in whiskey or brandy. They were soon able to gather up the immobilized birds - hangovers and all - and put them outside.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

I'm not sure to what degree the creatures actually seek to get drunk.

There was a documentary program on PBS many years ago called "Puss 'n' Booze." It was about an experiment in which a cat was subjected to some sort of stress (a blast of air IIRC), and learned that drinking alcohol would calm its nerves. The poor creature actually got addicted to alcohol and would intentionally undergo the air blast in order to get a drink. It took a long time to get the cat off the sauce.

I am certain that some creatures, given the opportunity, seek out booze (and in a few recorded cases, nicotine) once they have learned how to acquire it. Some learn from humans (the crow and rat in my example, the cat in yours) but others discover it for themselves (the elephants, for example).

I wonder whether pigs turned out into cider orchards each autumn to eat the windfalls have learned to wait for them to ferment. If anyone has any evidence in either direction, please let me know.