RESEARCHERS GOT CRAYFISH TIPSY

How did they do that?

A team at the University of Maryland plunged two groups of social crayfish into a tank spiked with booze. Previously, one group had been housed together in a tank for 10 days, the other group had been kept in solitary conditions. The team observed the animals over three hours to determine how ‘drunk’ they were.

What did they find?

When crayfish are tipsy, they stand more upright and begin thrashing their tails around before finally flopping over onto their backs – a sight eerily similar to the scenes in UK town centres on a Friday night. The team found that it took larger quantities of alcohol to trigger drunken behaviour in the loner crayfish.

Why did they do that?

Though they are keen to stress the fact that the research is still in the preliminary stages, the researchers say that socially isolated humans could show a similar increased tolerance to the effects of alcohol. This could help to explain why those who spend a lot of time on their own often drink more heavily.