Jason Palmer reports that when male flies have their sexual advances spurned by female flies they are more likely to turn to alcohol. Highlights of the study include:

• Flies were put into a box with either virgin females who were open to having sex or females that had already mated, and thus rejected the males.
• Those in the rejected box were more likely to drink a mixture that contained 15% alcohol.
• Scientists think that alcohol might give the flies the same high as sex thus satisfying their cravings.
• Humans share the same chemicals that are implicated in the production of this behaviour.

To read more about what happened when scientists directly altered the chemicals responsible in the flies’ brains, what this says about human interaction, and why alcohol hijacks our evolutionary mechanisms click here.

Source: BBC

Via: Freakonomics