A spacecraft made of folded paper zooming through the skies may sound far-fetched, but Japanese scientists plan to launch paper planes from the International Space Station to see if they make it back to Earth.

On Wednesday the University of Tokyo researchers tested small, origami planes made of special paper for 30 seconds in 250 degrees Celsius (482 F) heat and wind at seven times the speed of sound. The planes survived the wind tunnel test intact.

The Chilean government is investing a record US$100 million in innovative projects this year.

The figure is up from the US$73 million invested in 2007 thanks to an increase in a mining tax, which is expected to yield US$150 million in 2008. All tax proceeds will go into the two-year-old Fund for Innovation for Competitiveness, run by InnovaChile, the innovation department of the Ministry of the Economy.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria plans to slap duties on old computers imported for spare parts because much of the excess material is later dumped and causes toxic waste, Information Minister John Odey said on Wednesday.

Nigeria has a growing market for computers, especially affordable ones, and there is a strong local culture of patching things up to keep them working for many years.

INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - Google Inc is prepared to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in big commercial alternative-energy projects that traditionally have had trouble getting financing, the executive in charge of its green-energy push said on Wednesday.

The Internet search giant, which has said it will invest in researching green technologies and renewable-energy companies, is eager to help promising technologies amass scale to help drive the cost of alternative energy below the cost of coal.

[NEW YORK] Scientific organisations and researchers working in developing countries will be brought together through a network to be launched later this year.

The programme, Scientists Without Borders, is an initiative of the New York Academy of Sciences. It seeks to integrate the efforts of the scientific and health community to address global health, agriculture and energy challenges in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals.

After a brief and wet stint in Sydney, the Solar Taxi has made its way to Canberra to visit our proud nation's capital.

The Solar Taxi is a round the world venture undertaken by Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer. Embarking on his journey in July last year, to date, Palmer has done over 15923 kilometres in his custom made solar powered vehicle. His trip has been a momentous one, from royal passengers, vehicle breakdowns and rainy days.

The gorgeous Greta Garbo was from Sweden. Uma Thurman, Candice Bergen, and the wide-eyed Gyllenhaall sibs all trace their pretty genes back to that icy country, too. We've got to say, as a people, the Swedes are pretty smokin'.

And now, the people of Sweden are joining their hot bodies together for a good cause: To help the environment.

The study found that at an average age of 40 days, over 27.6 per cent of birds showed poor locomotion and 3.3 per cent were almost unable to walk. The high prevalence of poor locomotion occurred despite culling policies designed to remove severely lame birds from flocks.

Dr Knowles said: “Broiler chickens have been subjected to intense genetic selection. In the past 50 years, broiler growth rates have increased by over 300 per cent from 25 g per day to 100 g per day.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Doctors say they have developed a screening test for deadly Menkes disease so patients with the genetic defect can receive life-saving copper injections.

A team led by Dr. Stephen Kaler of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland, said the test identified 12 out of 81 newborns at risk for the rare condition, which causes seizures, stunted growth, mental retardation and kinky hair.

Hurricanes pound the Gulf Coast with unrelenting force. Floods deluge the Midwest. Wildfires rage out of control in California and Florida. A "red tide" of algae blooms off the West Coast, endangering marine and coastal wildlife. Dengue fever spikes in Mexico and looms over the United States.

No one can say with certainty that any single one of these events is due to global climate change. But there is little doubt among scientists that we are making unprecedented changes to our environment, with grave potential consequences already upon us and others on the horizon.