For now, the answer is maybe, as is often the case with wild new scientific discoveries—especially those that pertain to the mythical substance first consumed by the crews seen in the Star Trek universe.

This latest substance is being developed in a way that mimics Valium by a man named, I shit you not, Professor Nutt. He's totally sane though, and claims this substance delivers all the inebriating effects of alcohol, but without the mood-altering and addiction side effects. Better still, he claims that drinkers will be able to flush their system almost immediately with an antidote. Need to drive home after a rager of a holiday party? No problem! Pop a pill and you'll soon be good to go.

That said, it's time for the cold water dose of reality that accompanies seemingly every science-related story seen in a mainstream news publication these days. You see, Prof. Nutt is without funding or a test country that's willing to change regulations and allow such a substance onto the open market. The liquor industry has also shown little interest, which I find unfortunate. Wouldn't they sell more drinks this way? [The Telegraph via Slashdot]

The cabinet, a creation of Alex Vessels and Katherine Keane for NYU's ITP Winter Show, features several compartments to store your potables. Each of these is outfitted with a switch, so that when you remove a bottle, the Swig & Jig lights up and plays a song. The best part: it's fully programmable, meaning that each drink gets its own unique accompaniment. That means, in this case, the Pogues for Jameson, Etta James for a bottle of white wine, MGMT for PBR, and so on.

It almost makes me sad, knowing that when I take my cheap drinkin' scotch off the shelf tonight, it could be playing the sad trombone I deserve. [ITP Winter Show]

Last year Whitehall, NY resident Leslie J. "Bomber" Marr was arrested and charged with felony DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle for driving a Cruzin' Cooler while intoxicated. Who could have seen that coming? [Link]
18-year-old James N. P. Miller, of Cincinnati passed into ironic infamy this past Halloween when he was busted for DWI while wearing a breathalyzer costume. [Link]
Big Brother is always watching, and if you happen to be ridiculously drunk while you stumble into a convenience store, chances are the video of the incident is going to spread across the internet like wildfire.
Take note: your ability to evade the police in your car diminishes greatly when you are intoxicated. Case in point, the 18-year old girl in Jackson, Michigan that was chased down and busted by a cop on a Segway. [Link]
Like I said earlier, Big Brother is always watching. And there isn't a better candidate for the role of Big Brother than Google. If you happen to be an Australian man passed out drunk on your lawn, the StreetView car will be waiting, ready to pounce. [Link]
Excessive drinking impairs judgement and can result in mood swings. Take 22-year old David Robinson for example. Last month he was charged in Perth, Scotland with breaching the peace after he threatened passersby and challenged a lamp post to a fight. [STV]
Be careful where you pass out. Crawling into an industrial garbage bin is not recommended, as Brighton UK resident Scott Williams found out one fateful July morning when the contents of the bin were crushed by a garbage truck. [Link]
Be careful of who you pass out around. Not only did 19-year old Huang Chen wake up with a hangover and a severe case of butt remote, he also learned that his friends are dicks. [Link]

BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the Grinch hated Christmas, click here.

Vinturi Wine Aerator: For wine to reach its full potential, it needs to breathe. For centuries, people have been doing this with decanters, letting the wine sit out of the bottle to release its aromas and flavors. That's great if you've got the time, but more often than not when you crack open that bottle you just don't... want... to wait. Or maybe that's just me. Pouring your wine through an aerator gives you the full effect of a decanter, just without the agonizing wait. They can be ordered directly from Vinturi for $40, but you can get them a little cheaper on Amazon. [Vinturi, Amazon]

Dripless Wine Pourer: Not only is every drop of alcohol precious, so is the easily stainable wood coffee table your drink sits on. This dripless pourer makes sure your wine ends up where it belongs: in the glass. For just $3, you can even spring for a multitude of these for your next dinner party. [Crate&Barrel]

Knuckle Duster Corkscrew: A straightforward rebuttle to those who think wine is for sissies. This may not be the most practical corkscrew in existence, but it's undeniably the most manly. It will no doubt come in handy the next time someone favorably compares a Rioja to a Beaujolais. $13. [ThinkGeek]

A home brew kit: This site has already gone on record as being serious supporters of brewing your own suds. The short version, if you need one: it's cheap, it's easy, it's fun. There are a lot of options out there, but I'd recommend the Brooklyn Brew Shop for its ease of use and adventurous seasonal flavors. For $40 you can get a one gallon kit and a supply of any one of their nine grain varieties, ranging from Eggnog Milk Stout to Grapefruit Honey Ale to to a more straightforward Tripel. For serious home brewers, a five gallon kit is also available for $125. [Brooklyn Brew Shop]

A covert alcohol storage and transportation system: You may laugh now, but you never know when you might have to smuggle beer into a situation where it's not generally socially acceptable. For whiskey, there are flasks. For more pedestrian potables? The Beerbelly and the Winerack. For stealth you'll want to go Winerack, but for sheer volume and the odd experience of displaying reverse-bloat the more you drink, you can't go wrong with the Beerbelly's 80 oz. bladder. Perhaps not surprisingly, these are made by the same company. One stop shopping! $30 for the Winerack; $35 for the Beerbelly. [The Beer Belly]

Bad Decision Blocker: Perfect for those who have that someone (or someones) in their lives that they can't help reaching out to when they've had a few too many. Bad Decision Blocker is an app that lets you deny yourself access to certain numbers at previously designated hours. Which, let's be honest, after 3 am should be your whole phone book. $1. [App Store Link]

Space beer: It's a long shot, since only 250 boxes available and you have to win a lottery to be eligible to taste or buy one. But if you happen to be one of the lucky few, what could be better than beer brewed from barley that's spent five months in space? Well, not necessarily better-taste wise. But you can't beat it for uniqueness. [Sapporo Breweries]

Coors Light Cold-Activated Cans: Let's be honest. The only reason it needs to be so cold is to freeze your tongue so you can't actually taste this pisswater. Get them a nice cask ale instead.

Don't forget to recommend your own favorite drinking gadgets in comments-include pics and pricing if possible.

All Giz Wants is our annual round-up of favorite gift ideas, including amazing attainable objects and a few far-out fantasies. We'll be popping guides catered to different interests several times per day for the next week, so keep checking back.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/beerrobot/

The kegerator features an iPhone-like array of "apps," including a CO2 gauge, the "Tap Store" where different beers are selected, and a temperature gauge (the fridge is kept at 37 degrees for a perfect frosty brew). It actually looks like a project that's conceivably doable by a group of dedicated beer-lovers, even if they don't work for a tech magazine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to scour the Craigslist free listings for refrigerators. [Wired]

For when one night of crying in a cold shower isn't enough, the Jägermeister 6-Bottle Shot Cooler puts six bottles of the licorice from hell on ice, making them accessible through a spigot that looks suitably impossible to properly sterilize. At $120, the price must look a bit steep to most college freshman. But this is your future we're talking about, people. Spare no expense. This college certainly isn't going to drop itself out. [Jägermeister via Uncrate via uberreview]

At present, the device is set to analyze the following brands: Johnny Walker, JB, DYC, Pampero, Brugal and Havana club, although in future version we expect that Rotgutonix will be able to analyze the chemical composition of over 20 well-known brands, mainly rum, whisky, gin, and vodka.

The site also says the device is currently "a prototype still in the marketing phase", but we'll look out for it.

A fun side note: it's designed by the guy who gave the world the Condometric (a condom with a ruler stenciled on it) and the ball and chain student study aid (with built-in unlocking timer). Right then! [Curiosite via Technabob]

The closest thing to porn you're likely to see in the App Store, Swimsuit Illustrated's Swimsuit App, tops the sales list, followed by the medical marijuana location app "Cannabis" and finally "Mixologist," an app directory of recipes for mixed drinks. What does this prove? Will social conservatives start decrying iPhone users as degenerate drug addict alcoholic pornographers? [FolioMag]

N2Wine, makers of 'wine globes' believe that yes, yes you are ready to buy wines distributed from big vats. They argue that the aging process is overrated and that 90% of wines are as good when bottled as they'll ever be. (Sommeliers in the audience are welcome to affirm or refute that point in the comments while we move on.)

Wine globes are glass containers capable of holding 33 or 70 bottles of wine (depending on the size) that are specifically designed to thwart oxidization, the chemical reaction that ages wine, by preventing any air from entering the system. Instead, the globes vino-filled spheres constantly topped off by "food-grade" nitrogen when liquid levels deplete, essentially freezing wine's flavor in time.

The wine is also under constant water-cooled temperature regulation so that it's served perfectly every time and, obviously, the system can offer more wines by the glass than most restaurants currently offer. A $20,000 wine globe system holds 24 varietals of wine—or 168 bottles in all—putting each wine globe at about a $1000 price but eliminating the need for a cellar.

So would you order wine from a spigot? If the science is legit and the quality control is high, I'd try it out. [N2Wine via gizmag]

The pub, to be called the Spitfire, had already installed its equipment, made connections with beer and food vendors, hired 22 employees, and even hung signs in preparation for its opening when Microsoft pulled the plug. We'll make light of the prohibitive aspects of the story, but those 22 people are out of a job now.

Said Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos, "The goal was always to create a cool gathering place for employees, but to do so in a manner that's consistent with a business environment. We took a second look at that, and we were sensitive to the business environment. We decided we should do something more appropriate, and that meant not having a pub."

Somebody needs to watch more Mad Men, am I right? That Don Draper drinks all the time and he's a marketing genius, something Microsoft might want to take note of. [TechFlash]

UPI reports that the unidentified man, who lives in Frankston, Australia, claims he ate Bubble O'Bill ice cream (pictured above), right before blowing into the breathalyzer, which caused the false positive. Afterwards went before a court asking to have the breathalyzer removed from his car.

The court decided to verify the error with a second test. Without eating the Ice Cream, the man's BAC was .0000. Immediately after taking two bites, it was .0018. The man got his wish, and the breathalyzer was removed. But the larger cause for concern here is what he did to get stuck with the breathalyzer in the first place? And what will he do now that he's no longer shackled to the buzz killer? [UPI via Tech Dirt via Prefix Forums]

Because the Micro Matic v-POD is both your TV and your beer dispenser. Constructed of stainless steel and loaded with six faucets that can dispense anything from beer to beer, the v-POD already sounds like a must-buy for its $3,050 asking price. But the v-POD also features a 10-inch LCD with stereo speakers that can play back MPEG, MPEG2, MPEG4 and MP3 files off of your flash storage of choice.

Sure, we wish that display were a bit bigger. But when you're curled up in the fetal position crying about your failings as a human being, even a 50-inch Kuro isn't going to stop the pain. Lessen, maybe. Stop, no way. [v-Pod via Engadget]

The system works using a special cup, which allows drinks to be filled from the bottom rather than the top. For drinks that require ice, an added ice dispenser dumps cubes in from the top while the drink is being filled from the bottom. According to the company, fast pour times with almost no spill mean that the Trufill could end up saving 75 percent to 80 percent on labor costs. Though judging by how much the price of beer goes at Yankee Stadium, I doubt that'll ever translate onto the consumer's receipts. [Oh Gizmo!]

But with the flick of a panel...

...four joysticks are revealed, ready for some classic MAME multiplayer! We're not sure where the PC is hiding—probably staying chilly next to a keg or two—but how great would it be if the power were connected to a tapper and whoever chose the PBR ruined the party for everyone? You know, before he got drunk and started singing about the Cubs clinching.

I forgot to paste the via link on the earlier. My apologies. [invaded via albotas]