Striking resemblance isn’t there? I gather this was found by accident as scientists were examining oil shale under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) manufactured by JEOL USA. From the news item on Nanowerk,

The clear details shown in the picture (micrograph) from the SEM is due to not only the optics of the microscope, but the way in which the sample was prepared and precisely cross sectioned from a larger chunk of shale through the use of a special ion-beam cross section polisher. This tool has become indispensable for oil shale analysis.

One of today’s hottest areas of potential under-utilized energy resources is shale. Abundant in specific regions of the United States, oil shale is a fine-grained, sedimentary rock composed of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. Shale also has a complex network of soft veins of an organic substance, kerogen and accessory opaque minerals such as pyrite.

When heated, kerogen can release hydrocarbons, or fossil fuel. By studying the internal composition of the shale and the network of kerogen filled veins, scientists can determine the abundance and ease of extraction of oil.

It seems timely to discuss alternative methods of accessing oil in light of the situation in the Gulf of Mexico and the leak. As for BP, the company at the centre of the controversy, its logo, in the day and age of branding, is under assault as Suzanne Labarre in her article (BP Logo Gets Oily, Gruesome Redesigns Courtesy of Greenpeace Followers) on Fast Company notes,

Greenpeace asks you, gentle public, to redesign BP’s logo to more aptly convey its dirty ways. Skulls and crossbones welcome.

You’ve seen BP’s green-and-yellow sunburst logo, right? Seems completely out of place now that the defining image of the company is a dark blob spreading across the Gulf. With that in mind, Greenpeace has put up the Bat-Signal for a fresh logo that better conveys the oil company’s miraculous ability to ruin the world.

Here’s one sample logo (there are more at Fast Company),

An alternate BP logo