Isn’t science great? It cuts right through the psychology and straight to the biological facts. In a recent study, published in the journal Science, male fruit flies that had been denied access to females preferred consuming food mixed with 15% alcohol. On the other hand, the control group, flies that had mated repeatedly for several days straight, showed no preference for the booze. The conclusion? Researchers believe the flies got drunk as a substitute for sex, satisfying the urge for physical reward. You know, like that one time (or 10) when you couldn’t score at the local bar and wound up getting hammered instead. Be it man or fruit fly, when life kicks your heart in the face, alcohol is always there to numb the pain. Of course, the results of the study may one day be used to treat alcoholism, but for now, it’s really fun to create a mental image of a fruit fly at a bar for bugs, drinking glass after glass of bug-grog, telling the beetle bartender to leave the bottle and open up a tab. SEE THE FULL STORY >>