In this final installment of our TCHO Chocolate trilogy, Xeni and Pesco go on a magical mystery taste test tour -- think Willy Wonka meets The Trip. Former NASA software developer Timothy Childs founded the tech-minded chocolate company, and was joined by WIRED co-founder Louis Rosetto.

In previous BBtv episodes we learned about the hacked-together, home-tinkered machines and high-tech wizardry that keep their factory humming. Today we dive in to the genetics of chocolate plants, and the hedonics -- the tasting experience -- of the finished product, where science meets sensuality meets sugar.

Oh hell, who are we kidding, you guys? We sat around and GOT HIGH on neuroactive cocoa alkaloids. We freebased theobromine and we LIKED IT. We liked it a LOT.

Warning: this episode is NSFC (not safe for chocoholics).

Previously on Boing Boing tv:
* TCHO, part 1: chocolate origins.
* TCHO, part 2: magical machines, mysterious molecules.

Related: read a feature about TCHO by David Pescovitz in the current issue of MAKE Magazine, Timothy and the Chocolate Factory.

Here are some iPhone snapshots from Xeni on Flickr: TCHO, Boing Boing tv.

(Special thanks to Amy Critchett, and Wayne & Breanna)

In episode 2 of our new BBtv WORLD series, Xeni reports in from a K'iche Maya village in the Guatemalan highlands, and we step inside a traditional Mayan steam bath, or "tuj."

This pueblo began as a settlement camp for "environmental refugees" -- people who became displaced after mudslides and floods caused by Hurricane Mitch made their ancestral village unsafe. Survivors packed what belongings they could on their backs and walked miles to a bare patch of cold, windy mountaintop nicknamed "Alaska" for its extreme microclimate.

Nearly ten years after the disaster and the subsequent loss of their homes, these people are still struggling for survival. Their traditions are a source of strength, and today we experience one of them -- a small brick hut filled with hot volcanic rocks, steam, and herb branches gathered from nearby mountains.

WATCH THIS EPISODE ON BOINGBOING.NET. (Or, download MP4 here)

Previously on BBtv WORLD:

• Episode 1: El Molinero (Guatemala)

(image: Xeni Jardin)

On behalf of all my Boing Boing and Boing Boing tv colleagues, I'm excited and proud to announce the debut of a new series within our daily video program: BBtv World. This ongoing series will feature first-person glimpses of life around the world, told through the lenses and voices of Boing Boing editors, guest collaborators -- and through the people in these places, their own stories, their own way. When we can, we want to place the camera directly in the hands -- literally -- of the people whose lives, cultures, and lands we're visiting.

We're kicking this off with an episode I shot during a recent visit in a K'iche Maya village in the highlands of Guatemala, where I go a few times a year to work on sustainable development projects with an international project managed with local indigenous leaders.

"El Molinero," the title of this debut piece, refers to the corn mill where young girls go every day to grind soaked, hulled corn ("nixtamal") into soft dough for tortillas or tamales (in K'iche, "k'osh").

The old machine -- hacked together by local craftsman from various components -- is extremely loud, spews smelly fuel exhaust, and like many aspects of daily life and work here, is dangerous.

The K'iche girls you see in this episode helped me shoot some of what you see. In future episodes, they'll tell their stories themselves, and we'll visit other places -- Tibet, Africa, Mexico, China, India, and Japan, to name a few of the destinations planned.

WATCH THIS VIDEO ON BOINGBOING.NET.

Today, BBtv is proud to share a sneak peek at the new "Improbable Research Collections" internet tv series.

The Improbable Researchers are a group of scientists who collect and conduct research to provoke both laughter and thought. They publish a bi-monthly magazine, "Annals of Improbable Research;" they award the coveted " Ig Nobel Prizes;" and they oversee the exclusive and ridiculous Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists ("for scientists who have, or believe they have, luxuriant flowing hair").

They launch an online series of offbeat videos this week, and like all they do, these 'net shorts are an amalgam of science, technology, and history with Monty-Python-esque irreverence.

In the Researchers' own words:

Each collection — each episode — is about three minutes long, composed of bits and pieces and people from the magazine Annals of Improbable Research, from Ig Nobel Prize lectures and ceremonies and other live events, and from many other sources. We have been collecting this material for almost twenty years.

Bonus (or punishment?) at the end: real scientists in real lab coats singing real bad musical comedy.

Like Boing Boing tv, the Improbable Research Collections videos will be released under a Creative Commons license (Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives).