Even Moderate Boozing Bad for the Brain

Binge drinking bad, moderate drinking OK, right? Wrong, say scientists at Rutgers. They exposed lab rats to an all-you-can-drink diet, spiking some of the liquid with alcohol, and then looked at their motor skills and brain function over two weeks. Even though the rats maintained a blood-alcohol level of .08%, generally the legal driving limit for us humans, their brains showed a decreased ability to produce new brain cells, reports the Atlantic. In other words, having one or two drinks with dinner may not affect you much in the moment, but in the long run, it could hurt your ability to learn new things. (More drinking stories.)