PSC: Two
new coal power plants not needed in Michigan
Michigan
Public Service Commission staffers say neither Consumers Energy nor
the Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative successfully showed they need
to build large new coal-fired power plants in the state. Formally, the
document released Tuesday is the MPSC staff report to the Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality on Consumers' electric generation alternatives
analysis for its proposed new 930-megawatt coal-fired plant in Bay County’s
Essexville. The staff released an identical report on the cooperative's
proposal to build a new 600-megawatt coal plant near Rogers City in
Presque Isle County. More.
Engineering
firm uses Twitter for real-time data updates Waterford Township-based Kors Engineering, a service provider
for manufacturing and industrial organizations, Tuesday announced the
development of an extension for controls systems running the Tridium
Niagara AX framework to report data status updates via Twitter. Twitter
is a short messaging service which limits text messages to 140 characters.
The messages are called “tweets.” Twitter allows users to
report data updates to any data point within the Niagara AX software’s
reporting capability. A user could arrange for a regular update of the
power meter to determine the rate of facility or equipment usage, report
run-time status and meters, air handling systems, temperature sensors,
filters -- any data points that are monitored can be tracked from any
device. Niagara software translates data from a wide variety of devices
into a common framework. More.
New
color management gear from X-Rite Grand
Rapids-based X-Rite Inc. Tuesday unveiled EasyTrax, the industry’s
most affordable, semi-automated press-side color scanning system. Combining
a rich feature set with affordable pricing, and seamless integration
with X-Rite’s extensive range of prepress and pressroom color
technologies, EasyTrax provides an easy-to-use system to meet the color
management and process control needs of small to mid-size printers around
the world. More.
GeneGo licenses
MetaCore GeneGo Inc., the St. Joseph-based systems biology software
developer, said Tuesday that Proteostasis Therapeutics has licensed
its biological data mining and analysis platform, MetaCore. Cambridge,
Mass.-based Proteostasis Therapeutics is the first company dedicated
to the discovery of novel small molecule therapeutics based upon understanding
the body's "proteostasis network." That network maintains
the body's natural balance of proteins to protect it from numerous diseases.
More.
NanoBio
technology shows more effectiveness vs. the flu
Ann Arbor-based
NanoBio Corp. announced Tuesday that data from a large ferret study
indicates that its intranasal, nanoemulsion-based adjuvant elicits robust
immunity and cross protection against influenza using 1/15th of the
standard antigen dose, without evidence of toxicity or tolerability
concerns. In pharmacology, an adjuvant is a substance that helps and
enhances the pharmacological effect of a drug or increases the ability
of an antigen to stimulate the immune system. The company also announced
that data from a large GLP toxicity study in rabbits demonstrated similarly
robust immune responses without signs of toxicity or inflammation. More.
IBM,
the state of Michigan and Michigan State University Tuesday hosted the
ceremonial grand opening of its newest delivery center for application
services in East Lansing.
Officials from IBM
joined Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and Michigan State University
President Lou Anna K. Simon for the ceremonial ribbon-cutting. Also
at the event were clients, public officials, center employees, Michigan
State students and members of the faculty and administration.
Founded in collaboration
with a public university, the delivery center is the first of its kind
in the United States for IBM. The center provides innovative application
development and support services to modernize older and less efficient
IT systems for state and local government agencies and universities.
IBM also is doing
work for clients in the telecommunications, healthcare and high-tech
industries with a focus on modernizing IT applications through process
excellence, tooling automation, and asset re-use. In addition, the IBM
center houses an IBM legal center of competence. The legal resource
center analyzes customer contracts in support of complex services engagements.
Note: For information
on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Jeff Lasser
at (248) 455-7319 or jeff.lasser@cbsradio.com
UM study
shows you can inhale a heart attack It's well known that measures such as exercise, a healthy diet
and not smoking can help reduce high blood pressure, but researchers
at the University of Michigan Health System have determined the very
air we breathe can be an invisible catalyst to heart disease. Inhaling
air pollution over just two hours caused a significant increase in diastolic
blood pressure, the lower number on blood pressure readings, according
to new UM research. The study findings appear in the current issue of
Hypertension, a publication of the American Heart Association. More.
New
MSU Surplus Store, Recycling Center to open Sept. 10
Michigan State University will celebrate its new Surplus Store
and Recycling Center in a grand opening set for Thursday, Sept. 10.
The $13 million center will accommodate three times the amount of materials
as the current MSU recycling facility off Harrison Road. A comprehensive
recycling program, coupled with the center, will allow the university
to expand recycling collection in 553 buildings on campus. The five
target materials are white paper, mixed office paper, newspaper, cardboard
and plastics. More.
'Intern
in Michigan' program gets $1.2 million grant The Detroit Regional Chamber, in partnership with the West
Michigan Strategic Alliance, announced the award of a $1.2 million grant
received from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The grant, which will provide
funding through 2012, will expand the Intern In Michigan program across
the state and further the commitment and coordinated strategy of the
Detroit Regional Chamber and its key partners to attract and retain
Michigan’s youngest and brightest talent by connecting college-educated
students to employers statewide via a user-friendly online environment,
InternInMichigan.com. More.
THE WORLD
IN TECH
'The Beatles:
Rock Band" -- here comes the fun "The
Beatles: Rock Band" has produced more buzz than any video game
since the last "Grand Theft Auto." When Paul McCartney and
Ringo Starr took the stage at Microsoft's Xbox press conference at E3
this summer, they were greeted with a standing ovation. Gamers, then,
already know and love the Fab Four, so the idea that "The Beatles:
Rock Band" (MTV Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, $59.99)
will introduce their music to a new audience is nonsense. A more important
question: Will the more technophobic members of the Beatles' massive
fan base finally be motivated to pick up a game controller? More.
Google
launches user-led Q&A service in Arabic Google
Inc. launched an online tool Tuesday that allows Arab users to answer
each other's questions, a move designed to boost the amount of Web content
available in Arabic. The new service comes two weeks after Yahoo Inc.
bought one of the Arab world's largest online portals. Like Google,
Yahoo wants to better serve the rapidly expanding population of young
and tech-savvy people in the Middle East. Google decided to launch its
tool, called Google Ejabat after the Arabic word for "answers,"
after discovering many of its Arabic users' searches failed to turn
up relevant results. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company estimates
that less than 1 percent of information online is in Arabic. More.
Purdue
system gives students quick grade feedback A
new feedback system at Purdue University shows students red, yellow
and green lights -- just like traffic lights -- to predict whether their
efforts in class are enough to earn good grades. Purdue officials say
the Signals program can determine whether students are on the path to
success. The system looks at students' grades as well as their efforts,
such as whether they have completed reading assignments or attended
help sessions. It compares work done by current students to work done
by previous students before making a prediction. More.
Off
to see the Wizard for free online on Oct. 3 Anyone
with a computer and Internet connection can be off to see "The
Wizard of Oz" for free next month, courtesy of Netflix Inc.'s movie-streaming
service. The free showings will be available throughout the U.S. for
24 hours beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern time Oct. 3. It's part of a publicity
stunt to draw attention to the film's 70th anniversary. Warner Bros.
Home Entertainment is celebrating the occasion by selling a special
edition of the movie on Blu-ray and DVD beginning Sept. 29. More.
Stocks:
Shares gain on rising commodities, takeover news Stocks rose for the third straight day Tuesday as gold topped
$1,000 an ounce for the first time since February and oil jumped more
than $3 a barrel. The rising prices helped lift material and energy
stocks. The gains in commodities came as the dollar fell and investors
looked for more ways to profit from an improving economy. Talk of a
revival in corporate dealmaking also boosted the mood on Wall Street.
A takeover bid from Kraft Foods Inc. for rival Cadbury PLC -- even though
Cadbury rejected it -- combined with a big phone deal in England lifted
hopes that takeover activity could be picking up. Deutsche Telekom and
France Telecom said they planned to combine their British mobile phone
units to form that country's biggest mobile operator. A weekend pledge
by the world's 20 biggest economies to support the global recovery with
stimulus efforts also helped keep the market's tone positive. More.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP)
rose 18.99 points or 0.9 percent to 2,037.77. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average ($INDU)
rose 56.07 points or 0.6 percent to 9,497.34. The Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index ($SOX)
rose 6.98 points or 2.3 percent to 316.72. The Morgan Stanley High Tech
35 Index (MSH)
rose 6.24 points or 1.2 percent to 515.55. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical
Index (DRG)
rose 0.73 points or 0.3 percent to 280.84. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index
(BTK)
fell 0.43 points or 0.1 percent to 924.29. Finally, the Standard & Poor's
500 (SPX)
rose 8.99 points or 0.9 percent to 1,025.39.
All contents copyright 2009 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio & Eye logo trademarked and copyright 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. Written and edited
by Matt Roush, Technology Editor, WWJ Newsradio 950, Detroit. GLITR may contain material from the Associated Press, CNET, News.com, MarketWatch.com or Reuters, used by permission. For coverage comments or news tips, e-mail Matt Roush at
mnroush@cbs.com or call (248) 455-7380. For marketing and advertising queries, or with general questions or concerns, contact Pete Kowalski, WWJ's station manager, at
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IBM, MSU open delivery center
"The
Beatles: Rock Band" has produced more buzz than any video game
since the last "Grand Theft Auto." When Paul McCartney and
Ringo Starr took the stage at Microsoft's Xbox press conference at E3
this summer, they were greeted with a standing ovation. Gamers, then,
already know and love the Fab Four, so the idea that "The Beatles:
Rock Band" (MTV Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, $59.99)
will introduce their music to a new audience is nonsense. A more important
question: Will the more technophobic members of the Beatles' massive
fan base finally be motivated to pick up a game controller? 
