Matt's Favorites: Biotech Growth In Lansing, And Much More
SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) -- So what's the latest and greatest in the magnificently multifaceted world of high technology? Well, kids, strap on that jeweler's loupe and let's take a look at some facets...
* Congratulations are in order to Lansing, where officials of Rockville, Md.-based Emergent BioSolutions Inc. and Mayor Virg Bernero cut the ribbon on a 32,000-square-foot administration building at Emergent's Michigan campus. The building marks the new entrance to the company's 12.5-acre site and symbolizes Emergent's commitment to its employees and to Lansing, where it was founded 15 years ago. The company now has 850 employees, more than 450 in Lansing. The new building holds office space, conference rooms, and workout and dining areas. More at www.emergentbiosolutions.com.
* In the latest claims in the Speed Wars, in Tech Hive, AT&T had the fastest LTE network. Verizon, meanwhile, was credited with the "largest and most robust" network. And a left! And a right! And an uppercut! Stay tuned...
* Here's an interesting way to create a huge Wi-Fi cloud across a whole city -- piggyback it on individual users' home modems (securely, of course). The company considering this is Comcast, and there's a test of it now in New Jersey.
* They may have to fly to orbit on a Russian rocket for now, but NASA has picked another eight of the luckiest people on Earth -- the ones who get to leave it from time to time.
* Words like "live-blogging," crowdsourcing" and "mouseover" -- as well as "tweet" meaning something other than the sound a bird makes -- have been added to the 2013 Oxford English Dictionary.
* Meet Evie Sobczak. She started working on algae-based biofuel for an eighth grade science project. Now, four years later, she's made major advances in the science, earning first place in one of the world's most prestigious science fairs. The Florida teen hopes to get into Columbia University or MIT to major in biochemical engineering. I'm hoping some Michigan school tracks here down and talks to her about how someone in biofuels ought to work close to automotive companies.
* A very cool circus designed to wow kids with science and technology has won crowdfunding support. The organizers of the Two-Bit Circus promise "robots, fire, and lasers." Sign me up.
* Take heart, Google Reader users -- Digg will start rolling out its new RSS service next week with all users having access by June 26, the site announced in a blog post on Monday. The first version of the reader -- which lets users import feeds and folders straight from the soon-to-be defunct Google Reader -- will have basic functions, along with a tool that allows users to push what they think are the most important stories to the top. Digg promises to add more over the next few months.
* In the never-ending race for the world's fastest supercomputer, the Chinese have -- temporarily, we hope -- beaten out the United States.
* Facebook and Instagram might have a new feature up their sleeves. Facebook may unveil video support for Instagram at a press event on June 20, TechCrunch reports, citing a person who claims to have knowledge of its plans. Similar to Twitter's Vine, which allows users to post 6-second videos, Instagram's videos would be limited to 5 to 10 seconds.
