For anyone who's tried the drug ecstasy (or thizz if you're going Yay like that), you know that E changes how you listen to music. Suddenly even the most crappy tribaltrancetechnohouse can sound genius and you find yourself wanting to dance until your leg muscles turn to jelly. Well, as it turns out, loud music has an effect on ecstasy as well. Just not a very good one.

When tested on rats, loud music apparently prolonged the toxic effects of the drug, leading to even longer periods of time where brain activity was decreased. Reuters is reporting that:

"In the absence of the loud music, low doses of MDMA [ecstasy] did not affect the rats' brain activity compared with rats given placebo. When combined with the loud music, however, low doses of the drug were associated with decreased brain activity, the report indicates. Long-term experiments showed that the reduced brain activity among rats given the higher dose of the drug persisted for up to five days, the researchers note. Brain activity returned to normal after one day in rats given a similar dose of the drug who were not exposed to the loud music.

Whoa – four extra days? That's one helluva trip.

What researchers haven't figured out is just what it is about the club environment that prolongs the effect; in other words, they've found a connection but can't yet explain the relationship. It could be that there's something about how loud music stresses the brain and body that changes how MDMA affects people but scientists also haven't ruled out the impact of alcohol or club lights in having an impact as well. Sip on that, day-glo trippers. (Source: Reuters UK)

If you've ever been unlucky enough to find yourself in one of the many New York city bars that have DJs or music, yet ban dancing - relief might be forthcoming if a recent lawsuit helps overturn decades old cabaret license laws. This is a little Byzantine for those unfamiliar with the statute, but going all the way back to 1930s Prohibition days, New York municipal law stated that only certain clubs could allow dancing (not surprisingly, acquiring said license was extremely difficult).

It's a strange experience to be in a New York bar/club, with great music blaring, yet if you start to shimmy too much, staff will literally come over and ask you not to dance. Seriously, it's like Manhattan became Bomont, Iowa. Paging Kevin Bacon!

This is not the first time folks have tried to overturn the Cabaret Laws (as they're known) and perhaps finally, NYC will loosen up and let feet fly throughout its countless nightspots. (Source: MI2N)