the buzz log

Crashes, discoveries, and inventions dominated the Buzz this weekend. Take a look at the stories your friends and coworkers will be gabbing about around the watercooler on Monday.

Blink 182 drummer and DJ AM in plane crash
Travis Barker, the former drummer for Blink 182, survived a horrific plane crash this weekend. The accident left Barker and fellow musician DJ AM (real name Adam Goldstein) in critical but stable condition, but sadly claimed the lives of the plane's four other passengers.  Queries on "travis barker," "blink 182,"and "shana moakler," (Barker's model ex-wife) ruled the Buzz, while related lookups for "dj am crash" and "travis barker update" also soared. Articles, including this one from People magazine, drew mountains of clicks.

500 carat diamond discovered in southern Africa
Thinking about popping the question? If so, consider buying the 478 carat diamond recently discovered in Lesotho. According to Boston.com, the expected value is around $12 million, which is probably about equal to your family's share of the AIG taxpayer bailout.

12-year-old's invention rocks the Buzz
Energy crisis? What energy crisis? Seventh grader William Yuan has invented a new kind of solar cell that may be able to harness 500 times the light of a traditional cell. News of the invention led to jaw-dropping number of searches. On Saturday, queries on young William soared an astounding 224,257% making him the biggest mover of the day.

Ryder Cup belongs to the Americans
For the first time since 1999, team USA has won the Ryder Cup. The biennial golf tournament features the best American players against the top Europeans. Tiger Woods, who is out with an injury, couldn't help the Americans' cause. Instead, two relative unknowns stepped up to lead the Yanks to a commanding victory. Stories (and searches) focusing on Kentuckians Kenny Perry and J.B. Holmes finished well over par.  

Also buzzing this weekend...
• The Miami Dolphins, long known as the chumps of the AFC East, walloped the mighty New England Patriots. The epic upset put a stop to the Pats' 21 game regular season winning streak. Somewhere Tom Brady is crying.
• "Saturday Night Live" skewered John McCain's campaign ads mercilessly. Several blogs that recapped the sarcastic skit scored in Buzz. We are the Yahoo! Buzz Log and we approve this column.