The Buzz Log What’s hot on Yahoo! Buzz™ (and why)...

If there's a bright spot in the economy, it may be this: It has a future. Fortune magazine has come out with its latest hotshot list of 40 under 40 rising stars in business. Searches on the must-list immediately soared.

The list of under-the-age-of-40 superstars is top-heavy with leaders from Internet biggies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter. But there are also sports prodigies like Tiger Woods, "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, and media mogul-in-training James Murdoch (mini-me son of Rupert). Jay-Z represents with his many ventures, including Translation Advertising, which helps businesses connect to urban markets.

The list helpfully summarizes why each person was chosen, and also notes education, and marital status.

The blurbs are pretty fascinating. For example, you've probably never heard of Meredith Whitney, but she was the one who noticed that Citigroup had no money — and has made lots of other smart market calls. As anchor of "Street Signs," and pundit for "Meet the Press," Erin Burnett explains Wall Street to finance wizards and laypeople alike. And Cesar Conde, the president of Univision — the country's fifth most popular network — is only 35. (Sorry, ladies, he's engaged.)

You can see the entire list here.

Anyone who ever took a chemistry class knows that science labs are fraught with peril. There are open flames, combustible chemicals, and breakable beakers galore. With that in mind, some students at UC Berkeley created a video on proper lab safety. But this is no ordinary PSA.

The "Safety Song" features an incredible catchy tune and a collection of very soulful puppets. The video went live earlier this week and was immediately profiled on popular blog BoingBoing. And at the risk of sounding too fawning, it's easy to see why. The clip has amazingly high production values (or at least hides its low budget very well), the singer has a lovely voice, and (bonus!) the entire song is also surprisingly funny.

You can check it out for yourself below. Just because you're a monster (or a teenager), that's no excuse not to be safe...

People hear the word "free" and something comes over them. They may not even like what's being given away, but who cares? The simple fact that it's on the house is enough. So, with that in mind, consumers should expect their local KFC to be overrun this coming Monday, when the house that Colonel Sanders built will give away free chicken.

But, wait, didn't KFC try this before? Yes, they did, and it did not go well. This past spring, the fast-food chain offered a similar promotion, but was ill-prepared for the mania that followed. Restaurants quickly ran out of food and had to offer rainchecks to ravenous customers. KFC insists that this time, things will be different.

A very popular article from the AP explains that roughly 5,000 KFCs "will give every U.S. customer a free piece of grilled chicken." (Note that this is just for one piece of chicken, and not a full meal.) The news is already inspiring searches. In the past 24 hours, Web lookups on "free kfc chicken" and "free chicken coupon" are through the roof. As far as we can tell, there is no coupon required. Just show up prepared to wait in line.

Of course, this is hardly the only giveaway to inspire searches. Every week, we notice thousands of queries on everything from "free college scholarships" to "free music videos" to "free credit score." Below, we've tracked down the top twenty "free" Web searches from the past week. These are the things people want, but don't want to pay for. Is it any surprise that "free music" is near the top of the list?

Follow Buzz Log on Twitter.