Zhong Yu of Greenpeace told the BBC's Chinese service there was a heavy layer of oil covering the coastline.

BBC: China oil spill after pipe blast 'worse than thought'

The tube, coated with heat-trapping layers of ceramics and metals, cooks a surrounding layer of oil to 750 degrees Fahrenheit.

FORBES: Light And Heat

Plank's son Roger, 42, who serves as chief financial officer, keeps a reminder of those days on his desk: a small vial of foul-looking water with a thin layer of crude oil on the top.

FORBES: Dry powder

To compensate for this, egg producers in the US commonly used to spray eggs with a thin layer of odorless, colorless mineral oil.

FORBES: Natural Protection

See, your eyelids actually spread a film of oil over your eyeball which protects a thin layer of tears that allow you to keep your eye open without it drying out.

ENGADGET: Alt-week 7.28.12: social mathematics, Pluto's moons and humans-on-a-chip

Only if the product introduces something truly new, such as soyabeans with a much-higher oil level than usual, is there an additional layer of scrutiny.

ECONOMIST: Food fights

The result is a thin reflective layer that floats on the surface of the oil.

ECONOMIST: Mirror, mirror

He says the Bakken has a layer of nearly impermeable shale that sits above the oil-bearing reservoirs.

FORBES: Focus

It draws out the solvents from the bottom-most layer of polish, leaving all the layers dry and hard, while conditioning cuticles with almond and jojoba oil.

FORBES: 5 Celebrity Beauty How To's From Eyebrows To Updos