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Manufacturing.net Rewind: Boeing's Spy Phone; Detroit's UAW Worries

Check out some of this week's top headlines from across Manufacturing.net, from a phone that can self-destruct from an airplane manufacturer to more stress for Detroit from the United Auto Workers union.

Check out some of this week's top headlines from across Manufacturing.net, from a phone that can self-destruct from an airplane manufacturer to more stress for Detroit from the United Auto Workers union.

 

Climate Case At Supreme Court Looks At EPA's Power

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is facing off at the Supreme Court with industry groups and Republican-led states over a small but important program aimed at limiting power-plant and factory emissions of gases blamed for global warming.

The justices are hearing arguments Monday in a challenge to a regulation that forces companies that want to expand facilities or build new ones that would increase overall pollution to evaluate ways to reduce the carbon they release. Carbon dioxide is the chief greenhouse gas. Continue reading...

 


 

Boeing Developing A Self-Destructing Spy Phone

A company best-known for developing a healthy share of the aircraft civilians use to jet around the globe, and military pilots use to blaze toward their objectives, is now developing an Android-based smartphone that will self-destruct if a third party attempts to break in and extract its secrets.

The company has been developing this phone for more than two years, but only this week filed paperwork with the FCC to have it approved for actual use. Continue reading...

 


 

Governors Erupt In Partisan Dispute At White House

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's governors emerged from a meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday claiming harmony, only to immediately break into an on-camera partisan feud in front of the West Wing.

Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal lashed out first, saying if Obama were serious about growing the economy he would approve the Keystone XL pipeline project and take other executive actions.

Instead, Jindal said, Obama "seems to be waving the white flag of surrender" on the economy by focusing on raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10, up from $7.25. "The Obama economy is now the minimum wage economy. I think we can do better than that," Jindal said. Continue reading...

 


 

Detroit Automakers Worry About UAW Money Struggles

DETROIT (AP) -- The United Auto Workers' membership and dues are down sharply from just six years ago. In another sign of weakness, the union suffered a stunning defeat this month when it tried to organize a Tennessee factory run by labor-friendly Volkswagen.

The rejection, by a close vote, was a major setback in the union's effort to expand in the South, where non-union, foreign companies such as VW, Nissan and Hyundai are rapidly growing.

But instead of relief, Detroit's three automakers — Ford, Chrysler and General Motors — are increasingly anxious about the 78-year old union's future. Continue reading...

 


 

Star Trek Healing Devices Are Coming To Your Local Hospital

Maybe we can transport patients with hover-stretchers and flying ambulances, too. Announcements like this are bound to raise a few eyebrows, but we live in a world where 3D-printed hearts and other highly advanced surgical procedures are slowly becoming commonplace. The information in NASA’s recent press release doesn’t seem all that outlandish when you look at where the medical field is heading. Science fiction creators need to step up their game to keep us surprised. At least time travel is still safe for now.

Houston-based company GRoK Technologies is teaming up with NASA to create some devices that are sure to be gamechangers in the field of noninvasive medical techniques. GroK’s founder and CEO Moshe Kushman explains that, “It's not just science fiction anymore. All indications are that 21st century life sciences will change dramatically during the next several decades, and GRoK is working to define the forefront of a new scientific wave.” Continue reading...

 


 

High-Tech Mich. Hub Could Create 10,000 Manufacturing Jobs

The White House announced Sunday The American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII), set to open this spring in metro Detroit. It’s the latest hub in the Obama administration’s National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), and it’s expected to bring 10,000 jobs to the region within the next five years — no small number for an area that has repeatedly lost major manufacturing players during the recent tumultuous years for Big 3 automakers.

President Obama is expected to give more details about the institute during a speech on Tuesday. For now, it’s known that the Department of Defense will offer $70 million in federal funding over five years, along with $78 million from consortium partners. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation and state of Ohio will offer another $10 million. Continue reading...

 

 

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