the buzz log

Step right up for Thursday's Buzz. In this round-up, we recap several stories that got people buzzing.

The Democrats debate
The day after Wednesday's standoff between the two Democratic presidential candidates, a herd of recaps and retorts stampeded upwards in Buzz. Among the most widely voted on, a Yahoo! News item provided a general overview of the verbal skirmish and a Time.com piece served up more in-depth analysis. In Search, "democratic debate" drew a 1,871% rise.

A rare creature makes itself known
For years, stories have alleged that a "mythical creature" was lurking at the bottom of a lake in northern Vietnam. Now, scientists confirm that a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle—a beast so rare it might as well be mythical—is indeed dwelling in the large body of water. A Yahoo! News article on the fabulous reptile promptly floated to the top of Buzz. In Search, we had the uncommon pleasure of seeing a sudden spike in queries like "giant turtle," "legendary turtle," and "soft shell turtle."

Mr. Diaz passes on
Emilio Diaz died unexpectedly this week. The Cuban-American oil worker left behind two daughters, one of whom is the actress Cameron Diaz. On Wednesday, the movie star released a statement about her dad. He had suffered from a flu that gave way to a fatal pneumonia. He was just 58 years old. Stories and searches on both father and daughter have been spiking ever since. A report from People.com gained the most votes. Lookups for "cameron diaz" (+1,488%) and "emilio diaz" (+1,082%) pushed the terms into Thursday's top movers.

Also spiking in Buzz...

• Jane's Addiction is "reuniting." We put that in quotes because, actually, the famed rockers are getting together to play just one show, though you wouldn't guess it from Buzz. Queries and articles on "jane's addiction reunion" have been partying at full volume all day.

• The Shaolin Temple improves its amenities. The famous sanctuary of Chinese monks may be 1,500 years old, but it now has public bathrooms that cost $430,000 to install—including one with a foyer and an LCD television.