Google Doodle Celebrates Earth Day

Mariah, Travolta not so much

(NEWSER) - Oprah Winfrey was voted the greenest female celebrity in an Earth Day poll, the New York Daily News reports. Leonardo DiCaprio beat out Brad Pitt and Bono for the No. 1 male spot in the survey by GreenDaily.com and Bebo.com. On the other hand, Mariah Carey is least green, joining other laggards like John Travolta, who owns a fleet of private jets. More»

(NEWSER) - Being sensitive to the environment doesn't have to cost a fortune. In fact, the green option is often the most cost-effective one. Scientific American spotlights nine ways of cutting your bills as you save the Earth:

• Shrink your living space. Prefab homes and plans for dwellings as small as 65 square feet are widely available.

Thicker plastic requires more energy to produce, decomposes slower

(NEWSER) - Reusable shopping bags are this year's “it” giveaway, but they may not be as green as their feel-good slogans—like “Save the world” and "I used to be a plastic bag"—claim. The problem is that old habits die hard—many people simply forget to reuse them, the Wall Street Journal reports. And that's troublesome because the trendy bags take 28 times more energy to produce than a traditional plastic bag, decompose slower, and often arrive on oil-powered transport from China. More»

Five artists took part in 17-pane interactive project

(NEWSER) - Five artists, 6 months, 250 hours: That’s what went into the new Google doodle that went online today, reports the Wall Street Journal . The goal was to cover holiday celebrations across the planet, and it’s accomplished in 17 interactive panes arranged to make up the logo. It went up this morning and will be there for 2 and a half days. More»

Hungarian scientist Dennis Gabor would be 110 today

(NEWSER) - Google's logo today pays homage to Hungarian scientist Dennis Gabor, who's credited with inventing the science of holography. Gabor, who died in 1979, was born 110 years ago today, reports the Telegraph . His invention is, of course, in wide application today—how else would CNN reporters materialize at will? More»