10 Bizarre Ways Google Spends Its Money

What do windmills and bees have to do with Google?
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 2, 2011 12:33 PM CDT
10 Bizarre Ways Google Spends Its Money
A Shweeb monorail.   (NTDTV)

Google has made billions, and there are only so many YouTubes or Androids you can buy—so why not spend some of that hard-earned cash in some decidedly stranger ways? Business Insider rounds up the 10 weirdest:

  • Windmills: Yes ... windmills. Google spent $40 million on them, probably because it likes clean energy projects.
  • A beekeeper: The company has four nests on its campus and an official beekeeper who takes care of them, so that Google's chef always has access to fresh honey.

  • People-powered monorail: Google gave $1 million to Shweeb, a company that aims to make clear pods for eco-friendly transportation purposes. The pods are powered by people kicking their legs, bicycle-style.
  • Solar energy: In another push for clean energy, Google invested in building a solar panel prototype that could significantly reduce the cost of solar energy.
  • Space travel: The company is offering a $30 million reward to the first privately funded team that gets a robot to the moon.
Click for the complete list. (More Google stories.)

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