TGIF: A great Friday everyone. It’s Feb. 5, on which Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert acquired land in the Bronx in 1921 for a stadium that became known as The House That Ruth Built. You’ve heard of it, maybe?
Rapper Mr. Hotspot is 19 today; Hank Aaron is 82.
Get it in your calendar: LISTnet hosts a tech showcase featuring startups eGifter, Bettr, Dr. Leonardo and Russ Artzt’s new company, Digital Associates. May 4, Garden City Hotel, 6 to 8:30 p.m., free for members.
Elmo’s fire: Sesame Workshop has teamed up with NYC’s Collaborative Fund to support $10 million’s worth of children-focused tech startups. Awards are up to $1 million each and you get a backstage pass.
Puff is magically dragging: The dispensaries are open, but most NY medical marijuana patients can’t find a doctor willing to prescribe.
Ich bin available: OhLaLa, a German platform that connects women with men willing to pay for a date, has launched in NYC, with expansion to the Left Coast coming. Around $300, not counting the cost of the actual activity agreed upon. Women-pay-men and same-sex paid dating may also soon be in the offing.
Coming next: Law enforcement.
Totally unrelated: German chancellor Angela Merkel was on hand this week to witness the launch of her country’s new stellarator, a doughnut-shaped device that uses magnets to control the creation of plasma, the super-hot gas scientists hope will one day create clean and safe fusion energy.
Did you know? Merkel holds a PhD in physics.
Rotor rooters: Dutch police are training eagles to snatch rogue drones from the air.
If you’re fluent: Politie zet roofvogels in om drones.
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Whole lotta chat: Facebook’s WhatsApp messenger has hit 1 billion users, or one in every seven earthlings. Coming soon, investors hope, a plan to monetize them.
Head bangers: BioDirection is developing a device that will diagnose sports concussions with a single drop of blood.
Houston’s nice this time of year: NASA is looking for a staff scientist for its orbital debris program. The position closes Feb. 19.
Not actually showing their contempt: Researchers have determined that Resting Bitch Face is a real condition with sufferers that include Queen Elizabeth and Kanye West. (Meaning the two have something in common besides gobs of jewelry. Cool.)
Super close-ups: CBS will use tiny cameras and microphones in the end zone pylons at the Super Bowl this year. EyeVision 360, which deploys 36 cameras to catch the action from every angle, will also debut.
In case you didn’t get your fill last night: Watch two feet of snow falling on Washington in just 60 seconds.
So far, really old lab mice: San Fran startup Unity Biotechnology is readying to commercialize a therapy that can extend lifespan by 35 percent by cleaning out so-called senescent cells, those that no longer divide and lead to inflammation, tissue decline and other chronic signs of aging. Older VCs are lining up.
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No simulation: German industrial giant Siemens AG has agreed to acquire Melville software firm CD-adapco for $970 million.
Yes: $970 million.
Head of the class: Edtech startup Sullstice seeks to keep the learning experience alive once students and profs call it a day. Hugely popular in beta, it’s time to settle on a strategy for the Benjamins.
Joe Scaduto, presiding: Hairpin Technologies, launched last year to license Cold Spring Harbor Lab genetic research, has passed the $1 million mark from deals with Merck, Life Technologies, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Biogen.
Rent, a wreck: An LI Index study suggests Long Island needs tens of thousands of additional apartments in the coming 20 years, with a significant hit to workforce development if the units aren’t built.
Twice as green: Ecoclean is doubling up on its plan to centralize in Copiague.
Kickoff marketing: Northwell Health will trot out its new name in three Super Bowl spots, courtesy of an unnamed (and obviously deep-pocketed) trustee.
Come fly with them: Farmingdale State College has a new aeronautics program coming.
BELOW THE FOLD
I get a kick from Champagne: What pairs with Super Bowl snacks? Bubbles. As in Cremant de Loire.
Or for traditionalists: Gatorade Jell-o shots.
But, seriously: Innovate craft beverage editor Jimm McCune says the top five local craft brews to watch Denver win by are Crooked Ladder Brewing Nitro Porter (6.0% ABV), Moustache Brewing Sailor Mouth IPA (6.5%), Port Jeff Brewing Party Boat IPA in cans (7.7%), Greenport Harbor Brewing Anti-Freeze Ale (6.9%) and Lithology Brewing Rock Hammer Vanilla Porter (6.1%).
Gotta ask, Port Jeff: 7.7 percent? Really? Dude.
Get ’em before South Carolina: Andrew Hazen is pushing limited-edition Trump bobbleheads, only 2,500 made, first 500 numbered. (Dems ask, would that be all zeroes?)
And don’t forget: His bagel-eating blowout on Sunday.
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Compiled by John Kominicki. Thanks for reading.
