Undergraduates at Johns Hopkins University are getting a close up look at chocolate.

Transcript
[Upbeat Music]
My name is Jennifer Dailey.
I'm a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University.
I might be a bit of a chocoholic.
Voice off camera: And is that why we're here?
That is why we're here.
(laughs)
[chopping sound]
The students are going to be tempering chocolate.
Student:I got some ice.
By heating and cooling the chocolate up to various temperatures...
Student: 75
...we're able to create the exact crystal structure that we want.
[bubbling]
We put it under a scanning electron microscope.
We're going to be able to image down to microns even nanometers.
And believe me chocolate does not look like you expect it to look.
[mysterious music]
We see something that looks like globules mixed in with something that looks like pure crystals-- like a diamond would look.
Those crystals are actually just chunks of sugar and the globules are the cocoa butter that it's embedded in.
If I look at this I really don't want to eat it.
But we all know in real life we probably do.
[Upbeat MUSIC]
Materials Science is literally studying stuff.
Student"Want to check it out?
Anything that you can feel
anything you can use
We can make it stronger
We can make it lighter.
[laughing]
Chocolate just seemed like something people could relate to.
I saw that this class was focusing on chocolate so I got really excited.
This class has been great because I get to eat a lot of chocolate.
I'd love to eat more chocolate everyday.
[laughing]
I think the takeaway from this is that science is around students in everyday life.
And everyone loves chocolate.

Video by Len Turner and Dave Schmelick
JHU Office of Communications
video@jhu.edu
Len Turn