Chocolate is at least 3000 years old, and we have the ancient Mayans to thank for it. By way of the conquistadors, that is.

There is tantalizing historical evidence showing that the Mayans were quite creative in their use of chocolate, and the flavor combinations they developed, but archeo-ethno-botany researcher Kirsten Tripplett (left) , says few details of their actual recipes have survived.

Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes was probably the first European to taste chocolate, and it was he who first exported some back to his homeland.

Dark or milk chocolate? Many people have a distinct personal preference, but Tripplett says it’s clear which type is better for us.

Small black balls of glassy rock found in the Dry Creek Valley may be remnants from a prehistoric meteor strike. Or maybe not.

Geology professor Rolfe Erickson with tektites collected from strewn fields all over the world. (Photo by Jean Wasp)

A new analysis finds there are fewer foggy days along the Northern California coast than there were  100 years ago. That’s bad news for the venerable coast redwoods.

In addition to charting a reduction in the number of foggy days over the past century, U.C. Berkeley researcher Todd E. Dawson says their study also found fewer hours of foggy conditions on the days when the mist was present.

In their analysis, Dawson and  his colleague, James Johnstone, found there was a relationship between drought years and fog conditions, but it’s not what one might expect.

Read the abstract of their published paper on this research here.

Carl Mears has been studying the weather for years. Now he’s trying to do something about it.

Carl Mears will be the featured speaker at a community gathering June 30 at 5:30 pm at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Santa Rosa.  His topic:  “What’s really going on with the Climate? A scientists’ perspective.”

For some, the phrase "climate change" has supplanted "global warming" as this issue is discussed. Mears says he understands the scientific reasoning behind that, but dislikes the political connotations.