The tools and flavors have changed, but the work of roasting and grinding fermented cacao beans, and mixing them with a few simple ingredients to create a divine food, is a practice that goes back to early Mesoamerican civilizations.
Categories: Lifestyle, Science, Smithsonian • Tags: cacao, California, chocolate, food, history, Mesoamerica, San Francisco, Startups
An interactive map reveals where energy companies are using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to force tightly trapped oil and gas from fine-grained sedimentary rocks known as shale.
Categories: Energy, Miscellaneous, Smithsonian • Tags: California, Fracking
The path toward cleaner cars will be walked in tiny steps. There’s a place for all-electric and even semi-autonomous vehicles, but tweaks to designs that burn gasoline will deliver much of the fuel-economy gains expected in the coming decades.
Categories: Energy, Mobility & Transport, Smithsonian, Technology
Two years after the accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi, can the nuclear renaissance regain its momentum?
Categories: Energy, Smithsonian
