When your friend gets tipsy and starts rambling about how tequila turns her into a savage party monster, and then your other friend vehemently calls bullshit, calmly put your hands up and say this: "Friends. Please. I got this." And then explain to them what I'm about to explain to you.

Which drugs are actually killing Americans? Popular Science combed through overdose statistics from the CDC and turned the numbers into an infographic.

It's been known for some time that alcohol in beer, wine and liquor, consumed in large enough quantities, can trigger the release of dopamine in the brain. But a new study reveals that the mere taste of beer, in the absence of any alcoholic mechanism, can touch off a dopamine surge, as well.

Beer. It is one of the most awesome things in life. This leads to a couple of important questions. One: how long can you survive on beer alone? Two: to what extent is beer a suitable replacement for water?

Whether you're already three sheets to the wind or abstaining from booze this St. Patrick's Day, get to know a little bit more about the wet and intoxicating stuff. We've collected some of our favorite posts about the science, social science, and history of alcohol, so you'll have more to say about your beer aside from …

Reaffirming that age-old maxim that alcohol is the cause of and solution to all of life's problems, fruit flies have devised an ingenious strategy to protect their unborn young from parasites. They simply lay their eggs in alcohol, and somehow that solves everything.

Ever been drunk? So drunk you couldn't drive/speak without slurring/be trusted with a cell phone? Sure you have. Ever wished you could just sober up on the spot, without resorting to such humiliating (not to mention mythbusted) techniques as chugging coffee or splashing icewater on your face? Of course. But you can't.…

Ever enjoy the ritual of absinthe tasting? You combine sugar cubes, fire, and ice water to make the licorice-flavored beverage palatable. What if absinthe lacked any of these interesting additives? You would be left with malört — a harsh, extremely unpalatable beverage with an hour-long bitter aftertaste.

Any experienced cook knows you can add some flavor by putting a bit of alcohol in with sauces, and any experienced baker knows that squirting a cake with brandy and setting it on fire as it goes out to the table will eliminate any questions as to why it looks so crappy once the fire has been put out. With the many…

Raise your hand if you're drinking this weekend! Okay, that's a lot of hands. Now keep it raised if you understand how the beer/wine/cocktail/backwoods moonshine you'll be nursing actually gets the job done (the job being getting you drunk).