There's now a device that sobers you up through hyperventilation

Most of us have been there before: whether by choice or by accident, we've found ourselves far drunker than we initially intended to get. In the past, the best you could hope for would be some greasy fast food, a gallon of water, and a bottle of Advil to fix the situation. Nowadays, there are all kinds of methods to help you sober up... including one that induces hyperventilation in your lungs.

Hyperventilation, but in a good way — If imagining that sensation is making you want to reach for the nearest bottle, wait just one moment to hear this out. Recently, a group of Canadian scientists developed a new medical device called ClearMate, primarily for emergency room cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. To do this, the machine induces hyperventilation in a subject to quicken their exhalations, forcing unwanted particles out of their lungs while simultaneously feeding back carbon dioxide to prevent loss of consciousness or other normal bodily freakouts that could come with that.

Potential side-benefits — While the ClearMate was designed and approved for usage in gas poisoning cases, the system hypothetically could also be employed to treat patients with alcohol poisoning. When you drink, your liver digests alcohol particles at a generally steady rate, so the ClearMate could help expel those remaining particles faster than your body can process them.

While there doesn't seem to be an estimate of how long a ClearMate could sober someone up (we imagine it's more a question of how sloshed they are), this kind of machine could truly come in handy for more serious situations. Of course, an alternative could be just switching to non-alcoholic beer, which can be much better than you think (just trust us on this one, too). And hey, with liquor sales at all-time highs, something like the ClearMate couldn't have arrived at a better time. Just don't try and use it on this little alcohol-powered guy — he can handle his hooch, anyway.