Cyberspace, the Final Frontier: Top Science Searches of 2008
The biggest phenomena in cyberspace this year? Well, space. The Web continued to be a resource for teachers planning lessons and students doing homework, but much of the science searches this year involved interstellar and planetary phenomena this year. Earthly concerns, however, remain numero uno, with “global warming” topping the…
Infantile Rewards: Top Celebrity Babies and Parents of 2008
Infantile behavior does get rewarded. Forbes—which normally compiles power lists ranging from business leaders to homey small towns—started its accounting of “Hollywood’s Most Influential Infants” only last year…and what a difference a year makes, especially for a newborn. The celebrity baby-craze induced the magazine not only to come up with…
A Searching Look
Welcome to Yahoo! Year in Review 2008, in which a bunch of editors and engineers sift through what made the news and stimulated people’s curiosity. OK, enough with that: Here’s the real scoop. The “How We Measure Searches” box gives the more prosaic explanation about the making of these top…
Top 10 Farewells
Everyone’s time comes up sooner or later, and a personality’s passing prompts respect be paid to his or her legacy. Departures that shock the Web world—like that of wildlife expert and TV personality Steve Irwin in 2006—are those who had much more to give to the world. Heath Ledger Bernie…
Top 10 Economy
It is the economy. The $700 billion bailout. Foreclosures. The plummeting stock market. As 2008 came to a close, the nation’s economic turmoil battled with the presidential election for the hearts of searchers. IRS Stimulus Checks Oil Prices Gold Prices Gas Prices Dow Jones Sallie Mae Stock Market AIG Foreclosures…
Top 10 Influential Women
Females make up more than half the U.S. population, so a category devoted to women smacks of, well, a separate-but-equal standing. But with two women coming so close to the nation’s two top jobs and others breaking barriers within their own disciplines, acknowledgment is due for the passions that influential…
Top 10 Politicians
What a year. Can we exhale yet? Even with the demise of Wall Street (and our 401ks), the thing people will remember most about this year was the American presidential election. They’ll remember that a self-described “skinny kid with a funny name,” with a white mom from Kansas and a…
Top 10 Olympians
The Olympic Games motto of “Citius, Altius, Fortius” means “swifter, higher, stronger”—and the 2008 edition was also bigger, in every way. For 18 magical days in August, China threw its arms open to the world and put on an unforgettably lavish sporting and cultural extravaganza. Michael Phelps Leryn Franco Serena…
Top 10 Celebrity Brat Pack
If there are two things that Hollywood is constantly looking for, they are the next big thing and the latest celebrity scandal. In 2008, tabloid staples cleaned up their acts due to court-ordered conservatorships (Britney Spears), pledges of sobriety (Lindsay Lohan), and motherhood (Nicole Richie). As a result, celebrity rags…
Top 10 News
Anyone who watched the stock market or presidential polls knows 2008 was a year of highs and lows. Politics and pocket books dominated both News and Search, but wild weather, military setbacks, and medical miracles also set the world abuzz. Hurricanes Caylee and Casey Anthony Election 2008 Pakistan Pregnant Man…