If I read this article in the Science Times yesterday correctly—I’ve read it three times, and I’m not entirely sure—there are a number of species inhabiting the deep sea floor of the Gulf that feed on microbes which themselves are so specialized, they subsist on petrochemicals, not the usual hot minerals. The hypothesis, then, is that the Deepwater Horizon disaster could possibly be a boon to microbial life and, hence, the rest of the Gulf’s deep sea ecosystem (though the silver-lining opinion was voiced by a scientist, formerly of Texas A&M, which doesn’t inspire confidence). In a word: unlikely. In the meantime, the cap on the well has been temporarily removed because everything is that much more difficult when you’re piloting remote-control robots at 5,000 feet below the surface of the sea, and, in a decisive win for Rolling Stone and perhaps no one else, Obama has relieved McChrystal of duty. Even as the music industry has been relegated to the winners of American Idol and the keyfobs who program MTV and her sister brands, Rolling Stone keeps on keeping on. They should revise the mandate, go all-political (with the occasional Phil Collins and/or Mark Knopfler profile thrown in as a vestigial reminder). In other news, Spin is still a magazine. How is that possible?