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Scientists Develop New Healthier Chocolate

Eating large amounts of chocolate is both bad for your health and bad for the climate. Luckily, researchers from Zurich are now saying they have developed what they say is a healthier and more environmentally friendly product. Robert Günther/dpa
Eating large amounts of chocolate is both bad for your health and bad for the climate. Luckily, researchers from Zurich are now saying they have developed what they say is a healthier and more environmentally friendly product. Robert Günther/dpa
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Scientists Develop New Healthier Chocolate

Eating large amounts of chocolate is both bad for your health and bad for the climate. Luckily, researchers from Zurich are now saying they have developed what they say is a healthier and more environmentally friendly product. Robert Günther/dpa
Eating large amounts of chocolate is both bad for your health and bad for the climate. Luckily, researchers from Zurich are now saying they have developed what they say is a healthier and more environmentally friendly product. Robert Günther/dpa

Researchers in Zurich said they have developed a more sustainable and healthier means of making chocolate, a snack that's as much associated with fat as it is with carbon emissions, dpa reported.

"Our process uses solely cocoa pod components in the chocolate," said the team led by Kim Mishra from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) in the journal Nature Food.

"It also has comparable sweet taste as traditional chocolate while offering improved nutritional value with higher fibre and reduced saturated fatty acid content."

In addition, the production of this chocolate could "reduce land use and global warming potential compared with average European dark chocolate production," they said, according to dpa.

As the cocoa beans only make up a relatively small proportion of the harvested fruit, both the land area and greenhouse gas emissions associated with this crop are comparatively high.

"Therefore, an increased utilization of other parts of the cocoa pod, such as the pulp and cocoa pod husk, could not only contribute to income diversification among farmers but also reduce major environmental impacts during the cultivation phase," the researchers write.

The elongated cocoa fruit has a hard outer layer. If you cut open the fruit, you can see the shell and the cocoa beans lined up inside, each surrounded by light-coloured pulp. In the new process, the cocoa beans from Ghana were roasted, shelled, ground and sterilised as usual, resulting in the cocoa mass.

The team then utilized the inner part of the cocoa fruit shell and processed it into a powder. This was mixed with some of the pulp to create a sweet jelly. This replaced the granulated sugar normally added to the new chocolate.

The study's authors say that despite the necessary additional processing this chocolate recipe is on average more environmentally friendly than the conventional one.

According to the ETH, the cocoa fruit chocolate has a slightly higher fibre content than an average European dark chocolate thanks to the cocoa jelly used as a sweetener - 15 grams compared to 12 grams per 100 grams. It also contains only 23 grams of saturated fatty acids compared to 33 grams in an average European dark chocolate.

Small farmers could use the new chocolate to market other components of the fruit and thus gain additional income, the researchers write. Only the outer skin of the fruit remains, which, according to ETH, is traditionally mainly used as fuel or composted.

Mishra says their chocolate is "appealing and comparable in terms of flavour." Sadly for all chocolate lovers with a conscience, it will be some time before chocolate using this recipe can be bought in shops.

"Now, the entire value chain has to be completed, starting with the cocoa farmers, who need drying facilities. Only when enough powder is produced by the food processing company can the cocoa fruit chocolate be produced and marketed on a larger scale by a chocolate producer." ETH has applied for a patent for the recipe for cocoa fruit chocolate.

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Huge Rotating Structure of Galaxies and Dark Matter Is Detected

A figure depicting the rotation of neutral hydrogen in galaxies residing in an extended filament, where the galaxies exhibit a coherent bulk rotational motion tracing the large-scale cosmic web, is seen in this undated illustration obtained by Reuters on December 4, 2025. (Lyla Jung/Handout via Reuters)
A figure depicting the rotation of neutral hydrogen in galaxies residing in an extended filament, where the galaxies exhibit a coherent bulk rotational motion tracing the large-scale cosmic web, is seen in this undated illustration obtained by Reuters on December 4, 2025. (Lyla Jung/Handout via Reuters)
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Huge Rotating Structure of Galaxies and Dark Matter Is Detected

A figure depicting the rotation of neutral hydrogen in galaxies residing in an extended filament, where the galaxies exhibit a coherent bulk rotational motion tracing the large-scale cosmic web, is seen in this undated illustration obtained by Reuters on December 4, 2025. (Lyla Jung/Handout via Reuters)
A figure depicting the rotation of neutral hydrogen in galaxies residing in an extended filament, where the galaxies exhibit a coherent bulk rotational motion tracing the large-scale cosmic web, is seen in this undated illustration obtained by Reuters on December 4, 2025. (Lyla Jung/Handout via Reuters)

Scientists have observed the largest-known rotating structure in the cosmos - a gargantuan thread-like assemblage of hundreds of galaxies, gas and dark matter that makes up a filament in the macrostructure of the universe called the cosmic web.

The filament, located about 140 million light-years from Earth, was observed by scientists primarily using the MeerKAT radio telescope located in South Africa, an array of 64 interlinked satellite dishes.

The rotating filament is astonishingly large, measuring about 50 million light-years long and 117,000 light-years wide. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). By way of comparison, our Milky Way galaxy, which itself is part of a filament in the cosmic web, measures roughly 100,000 light-years in diameter.

"We believe that the universe on very large scales is made of a network-like distribution of galaxies, gas and dark matter," said University of Cambridge astrophysicist Madalina Tudorache, co-lead author of the study published this month in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"This network is called the cosmic web, and it is formed of clusters, which are very dense clumps of matter, often formed of many groups of galaxies; voids - which are empty or almost empty regions of space; and filaments, which are strand-like structures which connect the very dense regions and border the voids," Tudorache said.

The rotating filament described in the new study is populated by nearly 300 galaxies of various sizes as well as gas and dark matter, the mysterious invisible stuff estimated to make up 27% of the cosmos.

Everything visible in the universe is made of ordinary matter - stars, planets, moons and all the stuff on Earth. It can be seen in wavelengths from infrared to visible light and gamma rays, but comprises only about 5% of the universe. Dark matter, on the other hand, does not absorb or reflect or emit light, but its presence is known through its gravitational effects on large scales.

The researchers determined that the filament is spinning by observing that the galaxies on either side of its central axis are moving through space in opposite directions, with the whole thing having a rotational velocity of about 246,000 miles (396,000 km) per hour.

"This is the largest individual spinning structure so far detected. Statistically, we believe there are other spinning structures, some of which could be larger. However, we have not been able to detect them directly with our current data and telescopes," said University of Oxford astrophysicist and study co-lead author Lyla Jung.

The researchers likened what they see in this filament to the amusement park attraction called a teacup ride.

"The teacup ride analogy explains the two levels of spinning motion that make this object unique," Jung said.

"First, each galaxy in the filament spins on its own. The gas and stars in each galaxy orbit around the galaxy center, like each teacup on the ride spins individually. Second, the entire cosmic filament also rotates. The filament is made of many galaxies, and this study demonstrates that the entire structure is rotating, like the teacup platform spins as a whole," Jung added.

In studying the cosmos, astrophysicists examine it at the smallest and largest scales. They look at tiny fundamental particles such as neutrinos. They look at objects such as comets, asteroids, moons, planets and stars that make up solar systems. They look at galaxies comprised of billions of stars and at clusters of galaxies. And then on the largest scales they look at filaments and other components of the cosmic web.

This study looks at the large end of things.

"This is a very exciting time to work in this field, as our capacity of discovering such structures is increasing with the advent of better radio and optical surveys. It will deepen our understanding of the universe," Tudorache said.

Varieties

NCW Releases 37 Wildlife Species in Hegra Reserve in AlUla

The release included six mountain ibex, 20 sand gazelles (reem), six idmi gazelles, and five ostriches - SPA
The release included six mountain ibex, 20 sand gazelles (reem), six idmi gazelles, and five ostriches - SPA
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NCW Releases 37 Wildlife Species in Hegra Reserve in AlUla

The release included six mountain ibex, 20 sand gazelles (reem), six idmi gazelles, and five ostriches - SPA
The release included six mountain ibex, 20 sand gazelles (reem), six idmi gazelles, and five ostriches - SPA

The National Center for Wildlife (NCW), in cooperation with the Royal Commission for AlUla, has released 37 wildlife species into Hegra Reserve as part of ongoing breeding and reintroduction programs aimed at restoring natural habitats, enriching biodiversity, supporting ecological balance, and promoting environmental tourism.

The release included six mountain ibex, 20 sand gazelles (reem), six idmi gazelles, and five ostriches, SPA reported.

This effort is part of NCW's continuing work to increase the numbers of threatened native species and expand their presence across suitable natural environments.

NCW CEO Dr. Mohammed Qurban stated that releasing these species into the reserve helps protect wildlife, safeguard ecosystems, and enrich biodiversity, strengthening the sustainability of the reserve and its role as a natural and cultural destination of national significance.

Qurban noted that this release is an extension of the center’s reintroduction efforts across reserves in the Kingdom, aimed at rehabilitating ecosystems, increasing biodiversity, and ensuring long-term sustainability. It aligns with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, the Saudi Green Initiative, and the National Environment Strategy, while also adhering to global approaches to wildlife conservation.

Varieties

Australian Bushfires Raze Homes in Two States; Firefighter Dies 

Ruins of buildings and a car smolder after a wildfire destroyed houses in Koolewong, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)
Ruins of buildings and a car smolder after a wildfire destroyed houses in Koolewong, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)
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Australian Bushfires Raze Homes in Two States; Firefighter Dies 

Ruins of buildings and a car smolder after a wildfire destroyed houses in Koolewong, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)
Ruins of buildings and a car smolder after a wildfire destroyed houses in Koolewong, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)

An Australian firefighter was killed overnight after he was struck by a tree while trying to control a bushfire that had destroyed homes and burnt large swathes of bushland north of Sydney, authorities said on Monday.

Emergency crews rushed to bushland near the rural town of Bulahdelah, 200 km (124 miles) north of Sydney, after reports that a tree had fallen on a man. The 59-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and died at the scene, officials said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the "terrible news is a somber reminder" of the dangers faced by emergency services personnel as they work to protect homes and families.

"We honor that bravery, every day," Albanese said in a statement.

A fast-moving fire over the weekend destroyed 16 homes in New South Wales state's Central Coast region, home to about 350,000 people and a commuter region just north of Sydney.

Resident Rouchelle Doust, from the hard-hit town of Koolewong, said she and her husband tried to save their home as flames advanced.

"He's up there in his bare feet trying to put it out, and he's trying and trying, and I'm screaming at him to come down," Doust told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"Everything's in it: his grandmother's stuff, his mother's stuff, all my stuff - everything, it's all gone, the whole lot."

Conditions eased overnight, allowing officials to downgrade fire danger alerts, though the weather bureau warned some inland towns in the state could hit more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, raising fire dangers.

More than 50 bushfires were burning across New South Wales as of Monday.

On the island state of Tasmania, a 700-hectare (1,729 acres) blaze at Dolphin Sands, about 150 km (93 miles) northeast of the state capital of Hobart, destroyed 19 homes and damaged 40. The fire has been contained, but residents have been warned not to return as conditions remain dangerous, officials said.

Authorities have warned of a high-risk bushfire season during Australia's summer months from December to February, with increased chances of extreme heat across large parts of the country following several relatively quiet years.

In neighboring New Zealand, five helicopters and multiple crews were working to put out a fire near the country's oldest national park, a month after a wildfire burnt through 2,589 hectares (6,400 acres) of alpine bush there.

Police said they had closed a road near the state highway and advised motorists to avoid the area and expect delays after the blaze near Tongariro National Park, a popular hiking spot, spread to 110 hectares (272 acres) by Monday afternoon.