Newfound Evidence Changes Chocolate’s History

The origins of chocolate, at least until last week, dated back about 3,500 years ago to civilizations in Mexico and Central America. But now, thanks to newfound evidence, cacao’s history actually begins 1,500 years earlier in South America. Tests run on the bowls, mortars and jars found in the highlands of Ecuador—in the area known as Santa Ana-La Florida—proved traces of cacao remained. This confirms a …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Saying goodbye to Kepler, an upstate Witch Camp, Halloween in Tokyo and more in our look around the web

Farewell to NASA’s Kepler Telescope Kepler—the beloved NASA telescope responsible for discovering 70% of the 3,800 confirmed “alien worlds” to date—officially met its end yesterday. After nearly a decade of exploration, the telescope ran out of fuel and can no longer transmit data or focus on transient objects in space. During its time in flight the Kepler was able to study nearly 150,000 stars simultaneously and …

A Giant Version of FriendsWithYou’s Little Cloud at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Art collective FriendsWithYou (founded by Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III) will be joining this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with a super-sized version of their Little Cloud character. The puffy, smiling blob (which has been a keystone of their art for nearly two decades) represents “light, tranquility, and unconditional love”—a positive vibe they’re excited to share over the holiday. Little Cloud will be 30-feet-wide, and …