MIT researchers make advance in computer chips

Microchip researchers said they have developed a manufacturing technique that could pave the way for a new generation of computer processors, advanced solar cells, and other electronic devices. The work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology involves an advance in "nanolithography," the imprinting of tiny patterns on silicon wafers. Using laser light, sound waves,and a tool called a "nanoruler," the research team created lines about 25 nanometers wide separated by 25-nanometer spaces. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Many currently available commercial computer chips are made with a 65-nanometer process. (Cox News Service)

Citigroup is close to saying that the dean of the Harvard Business School will join its board, according to several people briefed on the search. Jay O. Light, a specialist in asset and risk management who has led the business school since 2005, is being recruited to fill one of at least three seats expected to be vacated in the coming months. Citigroup's directors have been under siege after overseeing more than $40 billion in write-offs and a share price that has fallen more than 66 percent in the last year. No final decision has been made, and spokesmen for both Citigroup and Light declined to comment. (New York Times)

Food and Drug Administration officials imposed the government's most urgent safety warning on Cipro and similar antibiotics, citing evidence that they may lead to tendon ruptures. The FDA ordered makers of flouroquinolone drugs - a potent class of antibacterials - to add a prominent "black box" warning to their products and develop new literature for patients emphasizing the risks. Tendon ruptures are normally thought of as sports injuries, generally occurring among men in their mid-30s. The link to treatment with the antibiotics is highly unusual, and scientists still don't fully understand why it happens. (AP)

Healthcare products and services company Cardinal Health Inc. said it plans to cut 600 jobs, or about 1.5 percent of its global workforce, and consolidate its business into two primary segments. The company plans to group its product distribution centers and nuclear pharmacies into one group and its medical products into another. Chairman and chief executive R. Kerry Clark said the changes would save money and make the company more efficient. The company will take a $63 million charge to pay for the restructuring. The cuts will include 160 positions that are currently open and will not be filled. (AP)

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. said second-quarter earnings fell nearly 24 percent as higher prices failed to offset raw material and facility outage costs. Earnings were $546 million, or 66 cents per share, for the quarter ended June 30, compared with $715 million, or 81 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier. Revenue dropped about 6 percent to $7.6 billion. Results beat Wall Street estimates. Analysts, on average, expected profit of 64 cents per share on revenue of $7.36 billion. (AP)

General Motors Corp is not planning a sale of any of its brands other than the Hummer line of SUVs, GM's North American sales chief said in an e-mail to the automaker's US dealers. Mark LaNeve, vice president for North American sales and marketing, said none of GM's brands other than Hummer were up for sale or being considered as candidates for closure, despite growing speculation to the contrary. LaNeve said GM's dealers would be among the first to know if plans changed for any of the company's eight auto brands. (Reuters)

Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. is targeting environmentally conscious homeowners with a new insurance product that would cover the cost of rebuilding a home to green building standards. "The green upgrade will actually replace a home that is not already green in the event of a loss," Erron Al-Amin, senior director of personal insurance, said. Fireman's Fund, which is offering the green coverage option in several states, including Maine. The Novato, Calif., company has received clearance to sell the optional coverage in 26 states, Al-Amin said, and expects to get clearance from all US states by year-end. The green coverage, however, is only being offered as an add-on to top-tier homeowners insurance. It would cost $25 a year to add the coverage for a home with a replacement cost valued at $500,000 or less, Al-Amin said. (AP)