At Johns Hopkins University, a materials science class took confectionery love to a new level. A microscopic level, that is. With a scanning electron microscope, students zoomed in at magnifications of 400 to 5,000 times and gazed upon an alien world called chocolate, made up of sugar crystals and cocoa butter globules melded together in a bumpy pockmarked surface. The course was a part of a larger effort to engage students in relatable ways to materials sciences. And while this unusual view of chocolate was not one that made me personally salivate, it’s fascinating nonetheless.
