Beer! The right choice!

If I read it on the Internet, it must be true.

If I read it from a real news source it must be true.

If I read it on the Internet from two different news sources, it must be true.

I’ll go with the last one. If nothing else, I’ll file it in with my theory on checking the weather. In any case, the news sources—UK’s Daily Mail and Business Insider among them—are all abuzz with the results of a scientific (or so they claim) study that suggests a bit of alcohol will keep you alive longer than caffeine. Now that’s some science I can drink to!

Turns out, the study referenced by Business Insider was conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. I can’t seem to find a non-paywalled version of the research article, but the abstract is peppered with apologies as it’s printed in the Journal of  Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

The more interesting piece appeared in the Daily Mail referencing a study from Tel Aviv University. The researchers there found that alcohol lengthened telomeres—the ends of chromosomal DNA—in yeast cells that share many important components with human DNA.

Frustratingly, this research article isn’t freely available (or via any of the databases I have access to as a library patron or as a university student) either. While I understand the importance and costs involved in proper review of scientific research, keeping it locked away from the rest of us seems to be the wrong path to take. I guess I’ll just have to take the media’s word for it and drink a beer… Until they tell me to do something else…