mortality landscape

Who painted this interesting and surreal landscape? If it wasn't so bright and garish it might look like something by Cezanne, I suppose. If it was less borderline abstract, and a little more representational, Van Gogh might be a decent guess.

Actually, nobody painted it. It's a drop of rosé photographed under a microscope, an illustration for Time magazine's story on the results of a recent study of the link between alcohol consumption and mortality.

The surprising results of this study? Drinkers live longer than teetotallers. Moderate drinkers live the longest, but even alcohol abusers tend to live longer than total abstainers.

The study didn't compare the conditions of life for the different categories, however, so it didn't convey the information that heavy alcohol consumption is the second-leading cause of dementia (after Alzheimer's disease). Still, staying away from the stuff completely doesn't seem to be such a good deal after all, and no doubt the best option is to face life as a moderate drinker, unless you're one of those people like me who just can't handle the stuff. And in that case, you just have to forget about that glass of wine with dinner, and take your chances with abstinence.