BP Finishes Relief Well

It's been off the radar for a while, but BP has reached a milestone of sorts in the Gulf: The relief well is finally finished—it has intersected with the blown well, putting the company on the brink of a permanent fix (after 5 months), reports CNN. Next step is to pump mud and cement into the bottom of the original well, via the relief well, as part of the so-called "bottom kill."

On another front, not so great news: Scientists say bacteria in the Gulf thought to be gobbling oil are probably just eating natural gas instead, reports the Los Angeles Times. It's possible the microorganisms are eating some oil, just not as much as hoped. "It's hard to imagine these bacteria are capable of taking down all components of oil," says the lead author of a new report in Science. "These stories about superbugs taking down all the oil—it's more complex than that." Get your fill of Gulf spill news here.
(More British Petroleum stories.)