Election Results, Turducken, Berlin Wall: What's the Buzz
Our top picks from the day's hottest searches.
- Election results (Searches increased by 7,697%). Republicans dominated in New Jersey and Virgina.
- Turducken (+619%). Why settle for just a Thanksgiving bird when you can eat three meats in one.
- Space hotel 2012 (+299%). Book now for your luxe orbiting accommodations that include space training at an astronomical cost of $4.4 million for three nights.
- Ethiopia (+478%). Scientists say a volcanic eruption may split the African continent.
- Fall of the Berlin Wall (+198%). Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the wall's fall.
King Tut Day: Tales from the Crypt
On this day that celebrates the discovery of King Tut's tomb, many are wondering about all things "Tut," including the fabled pharaoh's curse.
Let's review. The boy king's tomb was discovered back in 1922 and launched the modern field of Egyptology. In the '70s, the first exhibit of the perfectly preserved mummified remains went on tour in the U.S. Tutmania ensued. Cue "King Tut" song.
Now that Tut is back for another world tour 30 years later, searches on the Web for the ancient Egyptian teen have surged. In the last seven days, "king tut curse" soared over 200%. Lookups on the Web for "king tut," "king tut exhibit," and "history of king tut" have also increased.
Here's the story behind the curse. Rumors abounded after the archeologist who funded the mummy hunt, Lord Carnarvon, died a few short months after viewing the newly discovered tomb. All sorts of theories, none proven, gave rise to a "pharaoh's curse:" certain death for those who dared disturb a tomb.
Of course, many others who had also visited the tomb didn't die, and Carnavorn suffered from bad health. Still, even National Geographic couldn't resist trotting out some scientific explanations: Sealed tombs have often contained toxic bacteria and mold that could cause people with compromised immune systems to get sick. Another theory is that certain toxins were left near the door to punish those who broke into the tomb.
Still, no danger lies in actually seeing the museum exhibit, which is on tour through the end of the year. For a guy who's been dead for 3,000 years, King Tut sure gets around.
Filed under: Archaeology, Egypt
Oksana Grigorieva, Marvel Comics, Flu Vaccine: What's the Buzz
Our top picks from the day's hottest searches.
- Oksana Grigorieva (Searches increased by 9,227%). "Octo" Mel Gibson's Russian girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl, Gibson's eighth.
- Marvel comics (+970%). The franchise is bringing its comic books to the iPhone.
- Dakota Fanning (+566%). Stars, they're just like us, if we lived our lives in a teen movie. This "New Moon" actress was crowned Homecoming Princess by her Hollywood high school.
- Flu vaccine (+467%). The NIH has declared the H1N1 innoculation safe — and studies show kids need two doses.
- Election ballot (+253%). Today is election day for many parts of the country.
Black Friday Already?
Recession? What recession? If you ask us, the tremendous number of Web searches on "black friday deals 2009" are an indicator that the holiday shopping season may be a very profitable one for retailers.
For those who don't know, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, during which stores across the country try to one-up each other with outrageous sales. This being early November, the big day is still weeks away, but aggressive shoppers are already scoping out the various deals.
Over the past week, we've seen big Search bumps on "black friday 2009," "black friday ads," and "black friday rumors 2009." And indeed, there are a lot of rumors floating around. Some blogs predict an epic battle between Wal-Mart and Amazon. Others wonder if the Sears ad has anything worth fighting the crowds for. Also buzzing: Best Buy's "VIP contest."
We have no idea which store will offer the best deals to groggy shoppers, but we can safely predict that the searches are only going to get bigger. Buyer beware...
Ed Norton: Marathon Man
It's always good to have goals when you're running a grueling race like the New York City Marathon. For actor Edward Norton, who joined in with the other 43,000 runners on Sunday, it was to smash former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's time of four hours. Done and done. Norton ate up the 26.2 miles in 3:48:01.
Not only did the star beat Palin at her game, he came in first among all celebs in the footrace (yes, someone is keeping track of these things). That included "ER" star Anthony Edwards and singer Alanis Morissette.
And, oh yah, he raised a bundle of money for an African charity, too. Reportedly, one lucky Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust will receive $300,000, thanks to the star's efforts.
Sure, it would have been way easier to just write a check without the run. But some people just can't be stopped. Literally.
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nidal Malik Hasan | Breakout! |
| 2 | Fort Hood Shooting | Breakout! |
| 3 | Tyrannosaurus Rex | Breakout! |
| 4 | Fort Hood | 43518% |
| 5 | Tropical Storm Ida | 4377% |
| 6 | Willie Aames | 3325% |
| 7 | Shannon Dedrick | 3299% |
| 8 | Gretchen Rossi | 2702% |
| 9 | Epic Mickey | 2583% |
| 10 | Lee Harvey Oswald | 1907% |

top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danica Patrick | +194 | 207 |
| 2 | Fort Hood | +185 | 185 |
| 3 | Angelina Jolie | +114 | 164 |
| 4 | Rihanna | +39 | 157 |
| 5 | New York Yankees | +54 | 154 |
| 6 | Alicia Keys | +139 | 153 |
| 7 | +1 | 153 | |
| 8 | NFL | +6 | 138 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
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