LONDON (Reuters) – The development of a “stealth” turbine blade, based on military technology, may help overcome the problem of wind farms interfering with aviation radar systems, its developers said.

The issue of turbine blades confusing radar operators accounts for around half the objections to wind farm planning applications in Britain.

Now, Vestas Wind Systems is experimenting with stealth technology, developed to help warplanes escape notice, to reduce a turbine blade’s radar signature — the size of the blip it makes on an air traffic controller’s radar screen.

“These tips of the blades travel at about — the same speed as a light aircraft,” said Ian Chatting, head of research in Britain for Vestas, the world’s largest wind energy company.

BARCELONA (Reuters) – A company behind plans to open the first hotel in space says it is on target to accept its first paying guests in 2012 despite critics questioning the investment and time frame for the multi-billion dollar project.

The Barcelona-based architects of The Galactic Suite Space Resort say it will cost 3 million euro ($4.4 million) for a three-night stay at the hotel, with this price including an eight-week training course on a tropical island.

During their stay, guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes. They would wear velcro suits so they can crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

Galactic Suite Ltd’s CEO Xavier Claramunt, a former aerospace engineer, said the project will put his company (www.galacticsuite.com) at the forefront of an infant industry with a huge future ahead of it, and forecast space travel will become common in the future.

EAST LINTON, Scotland (Reuters) – A modern take on the age-old farming technique of plowing charred plants into the soil could help tackle climate change and even food security, according to researchers in Scotland.

Their study is looking at biochar, a charcoal like substance produced from heating farm or food waste, which when plowed into the soil can store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and may help retain nutrients and water.

The process of making biochar also produces low-carbon energy, including heat and an energy-rich gas which can be burned to produce electricity.

“The farmer can use his agricultural residues to produce clean energy. He is off-setting the fossil fuel usage that he would ordinarily have,” said Jason Cook, a PhD student at Edinburgh University.