In that spirit, here’s a sampling of active breweries and distilleries that take the 75-year-old “atomic” alcohol trend further: Or as one radiation safety expert put it: “Will alcohol help protect against radiation damage, or will it just keep me from caring as much?”īut our job at the Bulletin is, in fact, to care-and look to the future. All the same, the evidence that alcohol helps with exposure to nuclear fission remains inconclusive. The Department of Energy’s own guidelines for dealing with exposure to tritium-a radioactive by-product of atmospheric nuclear tests and nuclear reactors-suggest that the hydrogen isotope’s average biological half-life of 10 days “can be decreased by simply increasing fluid intake, especially diuretic liquids such as coffee, tea, beer, and wine.” Over the last decade, some studies have also hyped resveratrol, aka the ‘red wine molecule,’ as a tonic against all kinds of disease, including acute radiation syndrome. More practical studies since then have led some to make a scientific case for consuming alcohol to combat the effects of radiation. The Atomic Energy Commission did what they did best and dropped a nuke on bottles of beer and soda cans.” Partial list of beer exposed at 1,270 feet from ground zero during 1955 Operation Teapot experiments on the “effect of nuclear explosions on commercially packaged beverages.” As historian Alex Wellerstein explains, “One of the many lines of investigation during these Civil Defense tests, Project 32.2a, sought to answer a simple question: What will the survivors drink in the post-apocalyptic world? … When the only tool you have is a hammer, all your problems look like nails. Experiments conducted during the 1955 Operation Teapot series of nuclear weapons tests focused on beer and other beverages. But the nuclear risk cabinet also includes bottles of “Atomik Vodka”-made with grain and water from the Chernobyl exclusion zone-and “Nuke Waste,” a radioactive-green liqueur that looks as terrible as it sounds.īeer and nukes go back to the early days of the atomic age (though it all really started with a bottle of chianti). And there are in fact many beers inspired by the global dangers-nuclear weapons, climate change, and an array of disruptive technologies, from killer robots to bioengineering and beyond-that we cover soberly every day. To help quench your existential thirst as sunny days and outdoor activities beckon, here’s a guide to some of the doomiest beers and other drinks to come across our radar screen.Īmong the various existentialcohols, atomic-themed beer is the most common. We at the Bulletin are not opposed to addressing complex threats to humanity while pouring out a cold one. So what should people drink? Not entirely accurate clip from an episode of the CBS television series Madam Secretary. But with lockdowns in the US ending and larger outdoor gatherings returning, it’s time for brews, brats, and the country’s next mass summertime epidemiological experiment. Everyone knows by now that the coronavirus has nothing to do with Mexican beer.
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