Until four weeks ago only one topic had ever debuted at #1 on the Lycos 50. In the past month, three different topics have done so: Dale Earnhardt (who falls off the list after four weeks), the NCAA Tournament (which plunges to #28 this week), and now the Russian space station Mir.
The fall to earth of the Russian space station highlights a stellar week of news stories on the Lycos 50 -- but it isn't the most surprising space-based query to debut this week.
No, the most surprising space-based query is the moon landing hoax (#23). Yes, that would be the 1969 Apollo moon landing. Or was it just a film set in the Nevada desert, a fake used by the government to pull the wool over the eyes of an unsuspecting public?
That's the idea behind Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?, a special broadcast last Tuesday on FOX which garnered high ratings and even higher search traffic afterwards. In the interest of fairness, this website debunks all the conspiracy theories about the moon landing.
Here's the most interesting part: this show was actually a re-run. The original show ran only one month ago, on February 15, 2001 -- yet this second airing of the show resulted in nearly 60 percent more searches. That's a strange occurrence that even the Lone Gunmen might want to explore.
MORE MIR: Taco Bell queries quadruple this week thanks to their publicity stunt offering a free taco to everyone in America if part of the Mir hit their sign out in the ocean (it didn't). All this space curiosity also bumps NASA up to #18 this week. Perhaps the most fun query: the folks who searched for NASA Mir space station. I guess for them, the cold war really is over.
VETERANARY ALERT: The European scourge Foot and Mouth Disease rises to its highest position ever, at #21, and its brain-eating counterpart Mad Cow Disease debuts at #42 this week. Passover is only two weeks away, so that leaves eight plagues to go. Readers are advised to break out the matzah, hide the first born, and report any abnormal frog sightings.
CUT RATE: The most powerful man in America, Alan Greenspan, bullies his way onto the Lycos 50 this week with a double dose of rascally rates. Lycos users looked for news on both the federal interest rate cut (#41) and the mortgage rates (#14) that fell because of it.
SHE'S OUR GAL: Apparently, Lycos users know where to go to get Anna Kournikova information: Lycos! Anna K. rockets to #9 thanks to her new contest at Lycos, where Lycos users can win a whole bunch of Anna paraphernalia including sports equipment, jewelry, and her car.
ODD RUMOR OF THE WEEK: First, it was the death of Luther Vandross, then it was the death of Eminem. Now the latest odd Internet rumor says that pint-sized rapper Lil' Bow Wow was raped by his bodyguard. Searches for this rumor helped Lil' Bow Wow come close to our list, finishing at #61. Next up: a rumor that Eminem killed Lil' Bow Wow on the moon.
SHORT SUBJECTS: 20th century history continues its blitzkrieg upon the Lycos 50 with the arrival of Adolf Hitler (#44), which puts four war-related topics in the Lycos 50? America is interested in Census 2000 (#37) results for the second straight week? As expected, interest in the new movie Heartbreakers boosts Jennifer Love Hewitt (#43) back into the Lycos 50? Survivor (#25) dips on its week off? popular Academy Awards (#16) searches included Oscar odds and Oscar predictions.
NEW THIS WEEK: Mir, mortgage rates and interest rates, Academy Awards, moon landing hoax, Easter, Mad Cow Disease, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Adolf Hitler.
DROPOUTS: St. Patrick's Day, Dale Earnheart, NIT basketball tourney, reality show Big Brother, Limp Bizkit, Digimon, The Beatles, Carmen Electra, computer game Diablo II.
BIGGEST RISE: Madonna, up 33 places to #17, thanks to Lycos users looking for her new video What It Feels Like for a Girl. The clip was banned by MTV and VH1 due to extreme violence, and 40 percent of Madonna searches specified it.
BIGGEST DROP: NCAA Basketball, down 27 places to #28.
ONE YEAR AGO: 'N Sync peaks at #4 on the Lycos 50. Now at #48, they look close to falling off the list for the first time ever.
BLOWING OUR OWN HORN: For the second straight year, the Lycos 50 correctly predicts 4 out of 5 Oscar winners, missing only Best Supporting Actress Marcia Gay Harden.
TOMORROW: Cute, electronic, and guaranteed not to get foot and mouth disease.
