(NECN) - When it comes to the companies that produce pricey drugs for rare diseases, one might think it would difficult to find funding in this recession.

But some venture capital firms are specifically targeting such investments.

Reporter Julie Donnelly shares the details on this story from the BBJ-Mass High Tech newsroom.

(NECN) - U.S. researchers have found that people with a particular gene variant performed more than 20% worse on a driving test than people with a different DNA sequence.

Click here to read more from Yahoo News.

NECN's Mike Nikitas and Karen Swensen take a closer look in this newspaper segment.

(NECN: Boston, Mass.) - We may be seeing the beginning of the end of textbooks in public schools.

No more smudged and dog-eared pages as a number of school systems embrace electronic tools.

In today's Talk Around the Globe, the Boston Globe's DC Dennison discusses how new technology is changing the way students learn.

(NECN) - Fallon Schuler from Boston's Museum of Science says scientists have found a spooky new spider just in time for Halloween.

The spider, named Nephila Komaci, is the largest web-spinning spider that's ever been found. The spider can grow up to the size of an adult human's hand, and can spin a web up to a meter in diameter.

(NECN: Ted McEnroe) - The search giant Google became a giant with information - now they're leveraging that into some powerful new products for users.

This week, the company has announced two pretty cool developments.

(NECN) - The dogs and chemical sniffing devices seen at airports can only detect a few of the potentially harmful substances passengers could be bringing on board. But now a research team in Illinois has discovered a way to check for the presence of dozens of potentially harmful substances within seconds.

In Sci-Tech Today, Karine Thate has more on an opto-electronic "nose" that can sniff out dangerous chemicals in the air. Karine is the Museum of Science nanotechnology correspondent.

(NECN: Kenneth Craig, Worcester, Mass.) - You might say one Worcester College student is shooting for the moon with a newly designed robot. NASA is recognizing the Worcester Polytechnic senior with a big prize this week, for a robot known as the "Moonraker 2.0".

While you may not understand exactly what Paul Ventimiglia is saying, the Worcester Polytecnic Institute senior is obsessed with robots.

And what began as a childhood passion, is now paying off.

Paul and five others have built something that's earning them high praise from NASA, and a 500-thousand dollar check.

(NECN: Cape Canaveral, Florida) - NASA's newest rocket, the Ares I-X, blasted off on a brief test flight Wednesday, taking the first step in a back-to-the-moon program that could be shelved by the White House.

The 327-foot rocket's launch was delayed by a day by bad weather at the launch site. The experimental rocket carried no passengers or payload, instead using hundreds of sensors to check the flight's performance.

It was the first time in nearly 30 years that a new rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center.

(NECN: Ted McEnroe) - One of the best weapons against H1N1 (swine) flu could be the victim if millions of Americans try to work from home to avoid getting ill, according to a new report.

Here's the issue - if there's an outbreak of H1N1 in your office - people there might decide to stay home and telecommute. Get the work done - without getting sick, right? As Cecilia Kang of the Washington Post notes, it's not that simple.

(NECN: Amy Sinclair, Gorham, Maine) - Global warming, dependence on foreign oil, and high unemployment are some of today's most pressing problems. Now, a small company in Gorham, Maine, says it has found a solution -- in the form of a clear, sweet smelling liquid.

Maine has more trees than any other state in the union, so heating with wood is nothing new there, but engineer Stephen McKenzie's method is light years away from adding another log to the fire.

A small processing plant in a Gorham industrial park is the result of decades of research.