Scientists Create Chocolate Inhaler
It’s Real! Gadget Lets Users Breathe Chocolate With Zero Calories
There must be a slew of female scientists behind a new gadget that allows chocoholics to gorge on their guilty pleasure without putting on weight.
It’s called Le Whif and it lets users breathe in chocolate to curb cravings and satisfy their sweet tooth.
Raspberry, Mango – Yes Please!
OK - so it's a man. Harvard professor David Edwards invented it and he's created four flavours: raspberry, mint, mango and plain.
He worked with his students at Harvard University to develop the product. He was inspired by thinking about how people might eat in the future.
He tells the Telegraph in London: "Over the centuries we've been eating smaller and smaller quantities at shorter and shorter intervals.
"It seemed to us that eating was tending toward breathing, so, with a mix of culinary art and aerosol science, we've helped move eating habits to their logical conclusion.
"We call it whiffing."
The chocolate-flavoured powder sits in a small plastic cylinder and chocolate fans breathe from it – it’s like an aerochamber that an asthmatic might use. The particles of the powder are too large to enter the lungs the creators assure.
Pure Chocolate
They are confident the chocolate inhaler will change the way people eat. Tom Hadfield, part of the Le Whif team, gushes that the contraption, "fills your mouth with almost pure chocolate - it tastes really good. It's zero calorie, so could also be used as a diet tool. But chocolate is only the beginning - we're going to be unveiling more different types of food in the future.
"Eventually we could be having three course meals this way."
So Long, Scarface
In Europe, a drug called Avotermin reportedly can heal scars with astonishing results. Once injected into the skin after an injury, it encourages the tissue to repair itself more quickly, reducing permanent disfiguration.
Although silicone gels and other treatments have been used to treat scars over the years, Avotermin would be the first drug successfully developed for the purpose.
It was created using a natural chemical, called transforming-growth factor β3 (TGFβ3), the same substance which stops babies from scarring while in the womb, the Telegraph reports.
Scary Scar Tissue
Scars are caused by the body's own immune system, which overreacts to a cut and uses too much skin to bridge the gap. Because of the complexity of the body’s response, scars are difficult to treat.
The findings, published in the journal Lancet, show that on average the drug increased healing by five per cent more than standard wound care by six months, and by eight per cent by the end of the first year.
The study also found that as well as enhancing the appearance of the scar the drug also improved the structure of the skin.
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