And Yet More Science from the Duh! Files

It's official: Alcohol can lead to unsafe sex

A new study has found that alcohol consumption directly impacts a person's intention to have unsafe sex. In other words, the more you drink, the stronger becomes your intention to engage in unsafe sex...


Alcohol consumption, especially heavy drinking, has long been associated with HIV incidence. However, there have been doubts about the cause-and-effect relationship. Researchers weren't sure if alcohol consumption caused HIV via unsafe sex, or whether certain personality traits in individuals, such as sensation-seeking or a disposition to risky behaviour in general, would lead to both alcohol use and unsafe sex.

The study, published in the January issue of the journal Addiction, summarizes the results of 12 experiments that tested this cause-and-effect relationship in a systematic way. After pooling the results, the researchers found that alcohol consumption affects decision-making, and that this impact rises with the amount of alcohol consumed. The more alcohol that participants consumed, the higher their willingness to engage in unsafe sex.

Alcohol affects decision making?  Whoda thunk? 

Yet More Science from the Duh! Files

Dead trees burn faster than live ones!  Whooda Thunk!

The red needles of a tree killed in a mountain pine beetle attack can ignite up to three times faster than the green needles of a healthy tree, new research into the pine beetle epidemic has found.

The findings by U.S. Forest Service ecologist Matt Jolly are being used by fellow ecologist Russ Parsons to develop a new model that will eventually aid firefighters who battle blazes in the tens of millions of acres from Canada to Colorado where forest canopies have turned from green to red from the beetle outbreak.

Hey, maybe we should give Christmas trees water, or something, to keep them from getting crispy and flammable!



OK, the problem here is the press, not the science.  The scientists are reporting that they have improved models to predict movement of fire in forests devastated by beetles, but the press can only comprehend simple ideas, and think "Dead Trees Burn Fast" is a novel idea.

Seen at Watts Up With That.

Science from the Duh! Files

Chemist horrified to find his pioneering work with psychedelic drugs turned into deadly 'legal highs'

A brain scientist who studies the effects of psychedelic drugs on serious illnesses has been left horrified after criminals hijacked his work to make 'legal highs' that caused fatal overdoses.

Dr David Nichols makes chemicals roughly similar to ecstasy and LSD that help explain how parts of the brain function.

But he said he was shocked to discover underground chemists have been poring over his research papers in order to make recreational drugs for sale on the black market.

Worse, some of these illicit but legal drugs have been implicated in the deaths of young people who took them.

 Some scientists are sooooo naive...