VBVW for January 18, 2008: Black And Blue

• The Very Best

Scientists believe they have created the first perfectly black material known to man. Made of sheets of carbon just one atom thick, this super-black material absorbs light completely and is expected to have applications in solar energy and electronics. To the surprise of many, the “darkest ever” substance was not harvested from Dick Cheney’s soul.

All 136 passengers and 16 crewmembers survived when British Airways flight 038 crash-landed at Heathrow on its way home from Beijing. When all the power blinked out, the pilot glided the plane in for a bumpy landing.

Researchers have isolated the cell that leads to childhood leukemia, thanks to studies on a pair of 4-year-old twins from southeast England (one has leukemia, the other does not). Next time you bump into twins Isabella and Olivia Murphy, say thanks.

• The Very Worst

When asked about lobbyists in his campaign, Mitt Romney told a reporter that he had no lobbyists associated with his campaign. When it was pointed out that Ron Kaufman, one of Romney’s top advisors, is a registered lobbyist, Romney and a press aide tried to shut down the reporter for being “argumentative.” Jeez, can’t candidates lie with a smile anymore?

The very worst is not over for US banks heavily invested in subprime mortgages. This week, Merrill Lynch reported the worst quarter in its history with $16 billion in write-down losses, meaning their properties lost that much value, and Citibank reported a gigundo $18.1 billion write-down. How much is that? If you counted a dollar a second, starting right now, it would take you 570 years to count to 18 billion.

Fundamentalist Muslims are flocking to an Afghanistan cemetery where victims of the the United State’s “war on terror” are considered martyrs with miraculous powers. Hundreds of people visit Kandahar’s Arab cemetery daily amid claims that these martyrs have cured the faithful of their diseases. Talk about counter-productive: maybe it’s time the U.S. started educating these people instead of bombing them.