Bring it on! A healthy dose of epicatechin, serotonin, caffeine, theobromine, phenylethylamine, and polyphenols

As seen in our QUEST story, "The Sweet Science of Chocolate," UCSF’s Mary Engler conducted a clinical trial that showed that a plant-based flavonoid, epicatechin, helped to promote healthy blood flow in healthy patients.

Other researchers in the late ‘90’s, such as Adam Drenowski at the University of Washington, found that chocolate helps trigger the release of endorphins, while Daniele Piomelli of UC Irvine, conducted research on cannabinoids found in chocolate.

And recent research suggested that chocolate could even be good for your memory. There are other compounds present in chocolate which may have beneficial effects on your mind and body, such as serotonin, caffeine, theobromine, phenylethylamine, and polyphenols. Who knows what future chocolate research may yield, but in the meantime– no joke here– you might even be pumping chocolate-based fuels into your gas tank!

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Randy has donated prints to Save Mount Diablo, an organization dedicated to preserving the land. They're also partners with the Mountain Diablo Interpretive Association, a "non-profit volunteer organization which assists the California Department of Parks and Recreation in maintaining and interpreting Mt. Diablo State Park for its 700,000 visitors each year."

Randy's currently working on a new series focusing on the bald eagles in the Bay Area. You can also see more of his work on his website.

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Dr. Robert Drewes, the esteemed Curator and Chairman of the Department of Herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences, upon his return from the Gulf of Guinea where he has been leading research teams over the past decade to study the unique flora and fauna of the islands.

He was still tired from his travels, but his exuberant personality and lively sense of humor were still intact despite his jet-lag. He supplied me a DVD of photos that illustrated his adventurous exploits over the years – such as grappling a giant python snake and mucking about in swamps at night in search of specimens – and proof that he certainly had a lot of fun in the field throughout the course of his long and productive career.

Learn more about Dr. Drewes and his passion for Africa and frogs in the "Why I Do Science" profile, and be sure to check out our story "Disappearing Frogs" about Bay Area researchers investigating the decline of frog populations.

Each movement is categorized in Action Unit (AUs). When you puff your cheeks, it's known as AU13. The Frontalis muscle, located on the forehead, is responsible for AU1 or the "Inner Brow Raiser". Over the course of their extensive research, Ekman and Friesen determined that there are at least 19 different versions of smiles! For more information and additional resources on FACS, visit the Data Face website.

If you live in the Bay Area, you can see a special exhibit at San Francisco's Exploratorium with more of Dr. Ekman's photos. It's open through May 11.

Watch the "Emotions Revealed" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.

Jenny Oh is an Associate Producer for QUEST on KQED Television.

The Museum contains over 640,000 specimens of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals and 50,000 tissue samples that have been specially preserved since the turn of the last century. It's considered to be the largest university museum collection of its kind in the country. While it may even seem a bit disconcerting at first to see this enormous collection– especially the specimens that have been stuffed to be appear more life-like– the historical importance of the collection is tremendously significant.

Many of the specimens were collected in the early 1900's by the Museum's first Director, Dr. Joseph Grinnell, a zoologist who realized how quickly the environment was changing under the influence of human civilization. He set out to meticulously document various regions in California by amassing specimens and creating field notes, photographs, maps, letters and other archival materials. Grinnell understood how valuable this information would be in the years to come to future generations who wanted to learn more about our ever-evolving landscape. Present-day scientists are able to utilize this information for climate change research and can even extract DNA to perform genetic tests.

Monica is the Museum's preparator and oversees its Specimen Preparation Laboratory for UC Berkeley students. Veterinary hospitals or park employees donate specimens for her and her students to work on and she has a special license that allows her to collect any roadkill that she finds. The Museum usually preps specimens in three ways in order for scientists to have several options of study available to the: anatomy and biology (specimens that are prepared with taxidermy methods), skeletons, and entire specimens preserved in fluid. Monica even has a collection of dermestid beetles that help to completely clean the skeletons.

The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology is celebrating its 100th birthday this year and has several special centenary events to commemorate the occasion!

Watch the "Resurveying California's Wildlife 100 Years Later" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources. Don't forget to see the behind-the-scenes photos from this story.

Jenny Oh is an Associate Producer for QUEST on KQED Television.