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You may love chocolate, but you should probably start preparing yourself to say goodbye to it: Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have predicted that cacao plants are likely to go extinct as early as 2050 due to climate change. But there’s one glimmer hope on the horizon: Mars—the candy company which makes such chocolate treats as the Snickers and the Twix bar—has teamed up with the University of California on a new method that may help save future cacao crops.

You may be surprised to know how far back chocolate goes -- perhaps 1,000 years in what's now the United States. Evidence of chocolate has been found in northwestern New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, at Pueblo Bonito. The discovery indicates trade was under way between the Chaco Canyon and cacao growers in Central America -- more than 1,000 miles away. Crown says importing the material would have been a major undertaking.

British researchers say they are stunned to discover people get more of a buzz from eating chocolate than passionately kissing their lovers. "These results really surprised and intrigued us," psychologist Dr David Lewis said after leading a study that recorded brain activity and heart rate from volunteers who tasted pieces of dark chocolate or kissed their partners. "There is no doubt that chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz - a buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss."

TICONDEROGA, N.Y. (AP) - May 11, 2006 - Chocolate was more than a treat for the Continental Army – it was their MRE's. Rodney Snyder, a historian for candy maker Mars, Incorporated, says the soldiers in the Continental Army would have a couple of cups of hot chocolate in the morning and be good until lunch. He says chocolate was a staple of Revolutionary War rations. Mars is out with a new line of products based on old recipes. American Heritage Chocolate was introduced at a historic fort in upstate New York yesterday. The products will be sold at just...

Stained teapot reveals an ancient love of chocolate By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 18/07/2002) A teapot has provided evidence that our love affair with chocolate began 1,000 years earlier than previously thought. Archaeologists have shown that cocoa was cultivated in the land between the Americas - including what today is Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize - for thousands of years. Now a study of brown stains on 2,600-year-old Mayan pottery from Belize has identified cocoa residues thought to have been left by ancient drinking chocolate. The discovery, reported today in Nature, pushes back the earliest chemical evidence of cocoa use...