Cocoa solids are a mixture of many substances remaining after cocoa butter is extracted from cacao beans. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa powder or cocoa. In contrast, the fatty component of chocolate is cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is 50% to 57% of the weight of cocoa beans and gives chocolate its characteristic melting properties. Cocoa liquor or cocoa mass is a paste of roasted cocoa beans with cocoa butter and solids in their natural proportions. Chocolate requires the...

Researchers and clinicians in UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Population Sciences and Health Disparities Program are dedicated to understanding why Cancer affects different people differently,  and are working in different ways to eliminate disparities and improve outcomes for everyone. At UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, researchers are working to understand the biological mechanisms that may be at work in certain cancers that disproportionately affect different populations. They...

For the first time in history, researchers have isolated the parts of the human genome that could explain the differences in how humans experience happiness. These are the findings of a large-scale international study in over 298,000 people, conducted by VU Amsterdam professors Meike Bartels (Genetics and Wellbeing) and Philipp Koellinger (Genoeconomics). The researchers found three genetic variants for happiness, two variants that can account for differences in symptoms of depression, and eleve...

Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have designed a new type of pill that, once swallowed, can attach to the lining of the gastrointestinal tract and slowly release its contents. The tablet is engineered so that one side adheres to tissue, while the other repels food and liquids that would otherwise pull it away from the attachment site. Such extended-release pills could be used to reduce the dosage frequency of some drugs, the researchers say. For example, antibiotics that ...

Sgnl is the smart strap that enables you to answer phone calls through your fingertip. Simply place your fingertip to your ear while speak through the embedded microphone. Replace your existing watch strap with Sgnl and you’re done, whether you wear a classic watch or an Apple Watch, Samsung Gear, or Pebble Time.    There's no one who never lost their earphone in their lifetime. With Sgnl, you can keep your cell phone alone in your pocket and simply raise your hand to answer a phone call w...

Despite the common perception that moderate alcohol intake is good for the heart, new research suggests long-term alcohol consumption, even as little as one drink a day may enlarge the heart’s left upper chamber (atrium) and increase the risk of developing atrial fibrillation, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. “Our study provides the first human evidence of why daily, lon...

Tapu Tapu devices, a waterproof wristband, will be used at Universal’s new Volcano Bay for everything from reserving your place in a virtual queue for the rides to activating special effects throughout the park. Soak up the sun on Waturi Beach, watch your friends speed through the Ko’okiri Body Plunge in The Reef leisure pool or brave the racing torrent of TeAwa The Fearless River. When it’s time for you to ride, TapuTapu will alert you to head over to the attraction. No carrying tubes, no st...

The City of Columbus “Smart Columbus” vision won the U.S. Department of Transportation $40 million Smart City Challenge in June, 2016 after competing against 77 cities nationwide to become the country’s first city to fully integrate innovative technologies – self-driving cars, connected vehicles, and smart sensors – into their transportation network. Columbus was also awarded an additional $10 million grant from Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc. to accelerate the transition to an electrified, low-...