Sometimes scientific language really buries the news, like this study talking about "cellulose nanocrystals" and "renewable plant-based colloidal particles" and "photonic films."

What it really means is researchers have come up with biodegradable "eco-glitter" made from plant cell walls that can replace the plastic-aluminum mixture used now.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge say they can make plant-based glitter that sparkles as much as the current plastic and aluminum formulas.

In the journal Nature Materials, they say they've developed techniques mimicking the natural processes used to color butterfly wings and peacock feathers. And they say it can be made at an industrial scale.

"Conventional pigments, like your everyday glitter, are not produced sustainably," said professor Silvia Vignolini, the paper's senior author. "They get into the soil, the ocean and contribute to an overall level of pollution. Consumers are starting to realize that while glitters are fun, they also have real environmental harms."

The scientists say they want to form a company to finish commercialization but see the "vegan" pigments as having a smaller environmental and social footprint.

They say current pigments use mica, which is sometimes mined using child labor, and titanium dioxide, which has been banned as a food additive in the European Union over toxicity concerns.

"We believe this product could revolutionize the cosmetics industry by providing a fully sustainable, biodegradable and vegan pigment and glitter," Vignolini said.

But they do caution one problem can't fixed: It will still scatter around your home and be as annoying to parents as it's ever been.

Darrell McNair, the CEO and owner of automotive parts supplier MVP Plastics Corp. in Ohio, has been in our pages a lot over the years, as his company has grown or he's sat down to talk about challenges facing Tier 2 molders like MVP. He's always been generous with thoughts.

Now, he'll have a chance to be generous in a new venue.

McNair was recently named one of six co-chairs on the transition team for Cleveland's new mayor-elect, Justin Bibb.

Bibb's announcement doesn't detail what McNair will work on, and the 34-year-old Bibb comes to the office as the second-youngest mayor in the city's history, pledging changes in city hall.

McNair brings a background as a board member from the Cleveland Port Authority and volunteer with groups working on minority business finance. A Cleveland minority business group in September chose McNair as its Black Professional of the Year.

The former collegiate wrestler and longtime entrepreneur has a two-decade career in plastics, and before that stints at Ford Motor Co. and working in community development in struggling areas of Detroit.

As in our interviews, something tells me he'll have a lot to say.

The manufacturing labor shortage is forcing companies to adapt, that's no secret. Sometimes it's the obvious choice: raise pay. Other times, it's finding ways to be more creative, like giving shift workers more control over their schedules.

Automotive seating maker Bridgewater Interiors in Michigan found itself competing with fast food, Walmart and Amazon warehouse jobs, so it upped hourly pay to $17.50 and started paying $3,000 bonuses to new hires.

Similarly, Webasto Roofing Systems, also in Michigan, bumped hourly pay by 20 percent and is using retention and referral bonuses.

Other companies are looking at flexibility. A Silgan Plastics plant in Kentucky, for example, is using apps and software to try to give employees more choice around shift scheduling.

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