It should come as no surprise that scientists have spent many hours contemplating new tortures for the chocolate-addicted. After all, how else will science know how much, say, boredom, will affect chocolate intake? Or stress? Or watching a psychologist unwrap a chocolate bar? These are the important things, people.

The latest edition of this research addresses a question close to many a cubicle drone’s heart: will exercise reduce the amount of chocolate you eat while at work? (more…)

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What pairs well with chocolate? A pricey tablet computer, of course.

Stefan Magdalinski debated what to get for his sweetheart for her June birthday. Eventually, he decided on a candy Apple: He ordered his wife a chocolate-covered iPad.

As told on Magdalinski’s blog and reported by Mashable, what makes this feat more impressive is that he orchestrated the gift’s shipment from the U.K. to South Africa, calling two friends at a British chocolatier with an unusual question:

“Could you freeze an iPad in chocolate carbonite, and have it survive?”

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Not that we need an excuse to eat chocolate, but if you’ve had a heart attack, you may want to grab the Ghirardelli. Scientists know that eating dark chocolate (not milk—that’s the obesity-feeder) can reduce person’s risk of stroke and heart disease. Now researchers have found that eating chocolate can increase a person’s chances of survival after they’ve suffered a heart attack.

In the Journal of Internal Medicine, Boston researchers published a study finding that when people who’d had a heart attack ate chocolate two to three times a week, they significantly reduced their risk of dying from heart disease.

The scientists studied over 1,000 non-diabetic Swedish men and women between the ages of 45 and 70, all of whom had suffered from a heart attack in the 1990s. They were asked about their diet over the past year and about how much chocolate they ate. The researchers compared their heath exam from the three months after their initial hospital stay to their condition eight years later. They found that “the incidence of fatal heart attacks correlated inversely with the amount of chocolate consumed.”

So what’s the secret in dark chocolate? The researchers believe the antioxidants in cocoa keep free radicals from damaging cells the body. Plus it tastes so darn good.

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Image: flickr/ eszter

It looks like Oompa Loompas have been replaced by  iPhones. A San Francisco-based 20,000 square-foot-factory began operating this month, becoming the first chocolate factory to be controlled entirely by an iPhone and outfitted with a 3D virtual platform.

No surprise, the company behind it all, TCHO, was founded by Wired magazine co-founder Luis Rossetto and technologist Timothy Childs. Their goal is to use iPhones and other high-tech systems to reinvent the way chocolate is produced—allowing them to micromanage the entire process from scratch at cocoa farms until the product becomes edible (and delicious).

When Rossetto and Childs decided to combine chocolate making with technology, they teamed up with FX Palo Alto Laboratory to create an iPhone app that could turn a factory’s mixers and grinders on and off. And to make sure it all runs smoothly, every part of the factory is monitored with live cameras that stream footage straight to the Internet. Even the temperature is monitored with temperature-control boxes that are connected to the Web.
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