Earth Day

The chain-saw killer struck in the dead of night, targeting young victims in a public park. Locals out for a Sunday walk found the remains the next morning: 12 oak and cherry saplings, their slender trunks sawed through, their delicate branches dangling like broken limbs above the freshly tilled soil. It was the fourth tree-killing this year in Juniper Valley Park in Queens. Police went door todoor looking for clues. Civic leaders offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the culprit in the Sept.

Scientists have discovered a planet that shouldn't exist. The finding, they say, could alter our understanding of orbital dynamics, a field considered pretty well settled since the time of astronomer Johannes Kepler 400 years ago. The planet is known as a "hot Jupiter," a gas giant orbiting the star Wasp-18, about 330 light years from Earth. The planet, Wasp-18b, is so close to the star that it completes a full orbit (its "year") in less than an Earth day, according to the research, which was published in the journal Nature.

There was a time, and not so long ago, when the words "environment" and "ecology" weren't on all lips and the damage the human race was doing to its home planet was not of universal concern. The change in consciousness that brought us from then to now was the work of a committed group of individuals who are front and center in an involving new documentary called "Earth Days." Directed by the veteran Robert Stone, "Earth Days," as befits its subject, is very much a serious, considered film.

The city is partnering with two area schools to help reduce greenhouse gases by planting 1,000 trees in connection with the U.S. Forest Service's Center for Urban Forest Research. On Tuesday, more than 100 students, faculty and staff from the Art Institute of California-Los Angeles and the Art Institute of California-Hollywood will launch the effort by planting 15 to 20 cedar trees near Lincoln Middle School. On Wednesday, a pine tree will be planted in a public ceremony to recognize both Earth Day and National Arbor Day. -- Shelby Grad

Pop quiz: Which film has grossed more money? The hit Paul Rudd comedy "I Love You, Man" or the 47-minute-long documentary "Space Station 3D"? Julia Roberts' star vehicle "Duplicity" or the Humboldt squid's big turn in "Deep Sea 3D"? There are many reasons why the Walt Disney Co. is launching its new documentary label Disneynature with "Earth," and not all of them revolve around Earth Day.

Earth Day is upon us, and with it, several "green" events, including the broadcasting of "Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau" on public television and in schools. This is surprising at a time when government involvement in the environment is all the rage. Henry David Thoreau, who wrote that "government is best which governs not at all," is probably writhing in his grave.

To celebrate Earth Day, April 22, mass-market retailers Anthropologie and Target are offering eco-friendly, easy-on-the-pocketbook styles that will land in stores by this weekend Anthropologie collaborated with Dublin, Ireland-based Edun (founded by Bono's wife, Ali Hewson) for a line of Bee Tees to raise awareness of the plight of honeybees -- the stressed-out and disappearing insects that pollinate nearly a third of our food supply.

If necessity is the mother of invention, it might follow that desperation is the father of inspiration. That was certainly the case 40 years ago, when Belfast-bred blue-eyed soul singer Van Morrison found himself broke and stranded on the East Coast despite coming off his first hit as a solo artist, the Top 10 single "Brown Eyed Girl."