Alcohol + Energy Drinks = A Bad Combo

It’s one of the latest trends in drinking: mixing alcoholic beverages with energy drinks. Though research on the effects of combining the two is not extensive, a new study shows that choosing vodka and Red Bull over rum and Coke may lead to riskier behavior.

In the study, 56 college students between the ages of 21 and 33 were randomly assigned to one of four groups: one group drank alcohol, one group drank an energy drink, one group drank alcohol mixed with an energy drink, and the last group received a placebo drink. Researchers then observed the participants’ behavior using a task that measures how quickly a person can execute and suppress actions after drinking. The participants also reported their feelings of stimulation, sedation, impairment, and level of intoxication.

Cecile A. Marczinski, assistant professor of psychology at Northern Kentucky University and first author of the study, was quoted as saying, "Our study was designed to demonstrate that alcohol/energy drinks are pharmacologically distinct from alcohol alone and are adding to the risks of drinking."

While the study showed no difference in the level of impairment of people who drank alcohol/energy drinks compared to those who drank just alcohol, the study did demonstrate an enhanced feeling of stimulation in participants who drank mixed alcohol/energy drink beverages. This suggests drinking alcohol and energy drinks together may heighten the risks associated with drinking.

"We found that an energy drink alters the reaction of alcohol that a drinker experiences when compared to a drinker that consumed alcohol alone…," Marczinski said. "The consumer of the alcohol/energy drink felt more stimulated compared to an alcohol-alone consumer. Therefore, consumption of an energy drink combined with alcohol sets up a risky scenario for the drinker due to this enhanced feeling of stimulation and high impulsivity levels."

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http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=26786

Mark Webber heads Lewis Hamilton in Malaysian GP practice

Red Bull's Mark Webber comfortably out-paced Lewis Hamilton's McLaren to top practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Australian, who took pole here in 2010, was 1.665 seconds ahead of Hamilton and three seconds faster than team-mate Sebastian Vettel in 17th.

Mercedes's Michael Schumacher was third, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso ninth and Jenson Button's McLaren 15th.

It was a bad start for Renault as both cars suffered serious brake problems.

Renault were aiming to build on Vitaly Petrov's third place in Melbourne last weekend, with team boss Eric Boullier saying the team could go even faster.

But the team's preparations were hit when Nick Heidfeld and Petrov both retired from the session in spectacular fashion because of brake problems.

Heidfeld had to nurse his Renault back to the pits after the brakes jammed on his front right wheel.

BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz watched as the car was surrounded by mechanics as it returned to the pits.

"There is a nice burning brakes smell and a lot of brake dust," commented Kravitz. "He has also made a right mess of the floor."

Things got worse for Renault when Petrov ploughed his car into the gravel and reported on the team radio a brake and suspension problem.

McLaren arrived in Malaysia optimistic about their chances of challenging Red Bull at Sepang's fast and flowing circuit and Hamilton was the champion's closet rival, just as he was in Australia's opening race.

The gap to Vettel's pole position time was 0.8 secs in Melbourne, but the margin here between Hamilton and Webber's leading time of one minute 37.651seconds was more than double that.

Button, who won in Malaysia in 2009, complained that he was losing rear grip the more time the Pirelli tyres spent on track.

"This will be the story of the weekend, with the rear tyres sliding away time and time again," commented BBC Radio 5 live analyst Anthony Davidson.

Vettel did not show his hand in opening practice, with Davidson suspecting that Red Bull were running different fuel loads in each of their cars as they did race-preparation work.

Ferrari also chose not to focus on outright pace during first practice and instead ran through aerodynamic set-up work on a track where efficient downforce is critical to overall performance.

The Italian team, who said they were still trying to unlock the full potential of their 2011 car, spent the session swapping variants of front and rear wings.

Alonso, who ran off into the gravel late in the session but was able to return to the track, was almost three seconds off the pace, while his team-mate Felipe Massa fared much better in sixth.

After failing to qualify for the Australian Grand Prix under the re-introduced 107% rule, Hispania had also been confident of a more positive weekend in Malaysia.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/13009166.stm