Scientists Invent Useless Alcohol Pill, Drinking Gets Less Fun

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buzzmarlie

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Leave it to the Russians to invent a much more efficient way to consume alcohol and reenforce bad social stereotypes.

Satisfied that all disease has been cured, the world’s energy problems are a thing of the past and our lives are about as perfect as they can possibly be, Russian scientists have figured out a way to transmografy booze in to pill form.

The new pills can be made from any kind of alcohol, be it vodka, whiskey, cognac, brandy or what ever you’d like your pills made out of, although it doesn’t really make a difference since you won’t be tasting your hooch.

This is, indeed, a world of wonder. Where things that people have absolutely no business improving are improved. The scientists claim that this would make it easier for booze hounds to avoid getting to messed up, thus defeating the purpose of consuming alcohol in the first place.

Of course, the pill probably won’t catch on with normal people who enjoy sitting around and having a beer with friends, but it sure saves shelf space, not to mention leaves your breath smelling as fresh and clean as a Prohibition-era meadow. Plus, it’s way easier to carry from the car in to the house.

And it will hopefully keep kids from trying things like this.

Phil Fuller
December 1, 2009
Manolith
http://www.manolith.com/2009/12/01/s...gets-less-fun/
 
Wait, is this encapsulated alcohol or just a completely uneducated journalist talking about a new (or possibly old) GABAergic drug?
 
flacky said:
Wait, is this encapsulated alcohol or just a completely uneducated journalist talking about a new (or possibly old) GABAergic drug?
Click to expand...

I'm equally confused as to what exactly is going on with this...
Is it one of those types of drugs that Dr. Nutt was researching? Or purely Ethanol in powder form (possible?) then pressed into pills?

Fucking crap germalizum yet again!!! :X:X:X
This is beginning to get really irritating :|
 
^@Unbreakable: Probably not. The Breathalyzer works by seeing how much alcohol seeps out of your blood. If this is actually alcohol, it will still seep out.
 
Beer vodka and wine all have a massive amount of carbs. I wouldn't mind getting my alcohol fix carb free if this pill actually delivers what it promises (unlikely).
 
I am also interested if this is just a similar drug to alcohol or alcohol in a powder/pill form. The author makes it sound like its some stupid idea but I don't think theres anything wrong with it at all, it would probably reduce nausea and taking less trips to the bathroom is a plus. You would also be consuming a lot less calories by taking pills.

Fuckloads of people drink to get fucked up and not for the taste or enjoyment of the beverage or the social aspect of drinking with others. I drink to get fucked up and I wouldn't abandon alcohol entirely but it seems healthier to pop a pill or two before you hit the town than to do a few shots to be on a good level and avoid paying inflated drink prices at pubs and clubs.
 
sounds like an amazing idea

i hate the taste of alcohol so popping a pill would be beautiful
 
I have a feeling that this is really just a benzo, like Nutt was working on. If alcohol came in a pill form, there would be massive cases of alcohol poisoning left and right.

The fact that alcohol tastes bad and makes you hurl if you've had too much is god's gift to keep you from dying. Otherwise, people would be drinking themselves to death all the time.
 
I see myself being very tempted to pop them in class or bring some to work if I had a bunch of them them, which would be very bad...
 
Care said:
Beer vodka and wine all have a massive amount of carbs.
Click to expand...

Well vodka only has 2 ingredients, alcohol and water; and neither of those two ingredients are carbohydrates. Alcohol itself contributes 7 calories per gram, while carbohydrates only contribute 4 calories per gram.
 
flacky said:
Wait, is this encapsulated alcohol or just a completely uneducated journalist talking about a new (or possibly old) GABAergic drug?
Click to expand...

sounds pretty much like the former to me. some time ago there appeared some products with a powder that resulted in alcoholic drink when dissolved in water (containing sodium ethanolate, flavouring and acids to make the resulting drink have an acceptable pH). i think this is probably just NaOEt and some acid pressed into a pill.

@roger&me
+1
the calories in most alcoholic drinks (maybe excluding beer) come mainly from alcohol itself.
 
I wonder what acid they put in there to react with it..... I can't imagine the sodium salts of anything tasting very good at all in an alcoholic drink. Let alone the subsequent dehydration.
 
depends on the concentration. these products only resulted in drinks with about 5 vol% alcohol. i not sure it was sodium. maybe they use potassium or even an alkaline earth metal.
that aside they use citric acid if my memory serves me right.
 
flacky said:
Ick. I take it you haven't tasted sodium citrate before?
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not in pure form. but it depends on the concentration. if you combine a little table salt with some citric acid you get a solution of sodium citrate. i don't know how high the Na+ concentration has to be, for the resulting solution to have an unbearably salty taste.
but i guess you're right. physiological NaCl solution has 0.9% NaCl and doesn't exactly taste good, so potassium is a more probable choice here.
 
Last edited:
Actually, you don't get sodium citrate by combining salt and citric acid.... The citric acid is not strong enough for that so the reaction won't go forward. You'll only end up with partially dissociated citric acid, sodium and chlorine ions. It's basic chemistry.

You can, however, get it by combining baking soda and citric acid. That's the best way to make a crude, yet somewhat pure, solution of sodium citrate at home. The reaction yields sodium citrate and carbonic acid, which quickly decomposes to carbon dioxide and water.

Sodium citrate tastes sour and salty, but without the bite that salt has. Not something that I'd want in an alcoholic drink.
 
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