No. 355: On MOMA, Joni Mitchell, waste-to-energy and surviving the Election of 2018

The day after: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers. The election is over, the republic still stands and the midpoint of a most exciting week of socioeconomic innovation is upon us.

It’s Nov. 7 out there, and one way or another, the recent onslaught of political advertising has ended. Now, as the rhetoric recedes to CNN and Fox, we can finally tune it out and and enjoy “Guy’s Grocery Games” in peace.

Distractions: To help deprogram your politicly addled brain, please enjoy Hungarian Opera Day or the Tokhu Emong Festival of Nagaland. Today is also National Hug a Bear Day, a U.S. observance that (thankfully) focuses on cuddly teddies, not wild grizzlies.

Space invader: Happy 526th anniversary to the Ensisheim meteorite, the oldest recorded meteorite to reach the Earth’s surface. It crashed into a French wheat field on Nov. 7, 1492.

The paper of record: Known then as The Oxford Gazette, The London Gazette – still plugging away, now the planet’s oldest continually published periodical – debuted on this date in 1665.

The long pants of the law: An ordinance making it illegal for women to wear trousers in Paris without a police permit (!) took effect on Nov. 7, 1800.

The widely ignored pants law wasn’t officially revoked until 2013 – though, to be fair, women were legally allowed to “dress like men” if they were “holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse,” according to amendments to the original ordinance.

It spread like a cancer: A U.S. patent for the first cigarette-manufacturing machine was issued on Nov. 7, 1876, to New York City inventor Albert Hook.

MOMA mia: The Museum of Modern Art, among the world’s largest and most influential modern-art centers, was established in New York City on this date in 1929.

Other Nov. 7 notables include Edward Bouchet (the first African American to earn a PhD in the United States, from Yale University in 1876), “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” (first broadcast by CBS radio in 1932) and FDR (elected to an unprecedented fourth term as U.S. president in 1944).

Elemental: Two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie “Madame” Curie (1867-1934), the Polish-French chemist whose celebrated experiments led to the discovery of two new elements, was born on Nov. 7.

So were Russian Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), American Baptist evangelist Billy Graham (1918-2018) and sitcom actor Christopher “Peter Brady” Knight (born 1957).

A case of her: And take a bow, Joni Mitchell – the influential Canadian singer-songwriter, born Roberta Joan Anderson, turns 75 today.

So, Mitchell? Melissa Ethridge? Joan Jett? Stevie Nicks? Or perhaps a modern entry, like Lady Gaga? If you had to pick just one, who would reign as the all-time-best female rocker? Sound off at editor@innovateli.com – and rock our world with a story tip or calendar suggestion, please and thank you.

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BUT FIRST, THIS

Thought for food: Noting “myriad nutritional considerations when it comes to cancer,” NYU Winthrop Hospital’s Center for Cancer Care has announced an expanded Oncology Nutrition Services effort for patients about to receive cancer treatments.

Belying traditional approaches that provide nutritional council primarily during and after treatments, the Mineola-based, New York University-affiliated hospital is looking to “intercept patients ahead of the curve on the continuum of cancer care” with dietary guidance designed to build strength, stamina and healthy body tissue prior to undergoing surgeries and tough treatments, according to NYU Winthrop.

Through the proactive approach, the hospital hopes to optimize patients’ abilities to tolerate chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy protocols, not to mention invasive surgeries, all of which can severely impact eating habits and otherwise take their toll. “Attention to the nutritional status of our patients is critical to their ability to tolerate treatments and to their sense of wellbeing,” notes Center for Cancer Care Physician Director Eva Chalas.

Schein-ing example: The head of Henry Schein’s IT security will keynote a Nov. 15 breakfast seminar focused on rules and regulations affecting international data protection.

Mark Viola, chief information security officer for Henry Schein and head of the Melville-based healthcare supply and service distributor’s global cybersecurity program, will kick off an event presented by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration and the NYIT College of Engineering and Computing Sciences.

The keynote will be followed by a panel discussion on changing data-protection regulations and new global privacy laws, and how businesses of all sizes can remain compliant. The discussion is scheduled to feature experts from SilvermanAcampora, Intelligent Product Solutions, the U.S. Commercial Service and the ITA. Ticket pricing, registration and more information available here.

TOP OF THE SITE

Garbage time: The Town of Huntington has extended a long-running deal with a New Jersey-based waste-to-energy conglomerate concerning the Huntington Resource Recovery Facility.

Prescription prognostication: Feinstein Institute researchers are using genetic predispositions to accurately predict how schizophrenia patients will react to antipsychotic meds.

Cash crop: Food-insecurity foe Island Harvest has landed a $1 million state grant, earmarked for the acquisition of permanent warehouse space and an operational expansion.

A long trip to the MART: Three million workhours later, Stony Brook Medicine has cut the ribbon on its 240,000-square-foot Medical and Research Translation Building.

STUFF WE’RE READING

HQ2 and you: With Amazon putting Long Island City on its second-headquarters short list, Newsday scouts potential effects for the Queens and Long Island regions.

Healthy debate: Forbes explains the inseparable relationship between politics and healthcare innovation, and why government matters most to future research.

Write on: Fast Company shares eight hot tips for saying what you mean, meaning what you say and otherwise improving your business communications.

RECENT FUNDINGS

+ Molekule, a Callifornia-based clean-tech company with a patented air-purification technology, closed a $25 million Series B funding round led by Foundry Group, Crosslink Capital, Uncork Capital and TransLink Capital.

+ ShipMonk, a Florida-based provider of inventory-management, ordering and shipping solutions, closed a $10 million Series A financing led by SJF Ventures, with participation from Grotech Ventures, Supply Chain Ventures and individual angel investors.

+ King Children, a New York City-based eyewear brand that allows users to design frames with their desired colors, shapes and lenses, raised $2 million in funding. Backers included Great Oaks VC, RBC Venture Partners, Gen Z Capital and Casper co-founder Neil Parikh.

+ BioInformatics, a Virginia-based strategic services company for the life-sciences, clinical diagnostics, analytical instrumentation, radiology and dental markets, raised $21 million in Series B funding. Backers included BroadOak Capital, Pablo Capital and Research Corporation Technologies.

+ Currant, a California-based maker of smart products that reduce energy consumption, raised $7 million in seed funding led by Uncork Capital and K9 Venture, with participation from UP2398, Precursor Ventures and a consortium of investors.

+ RapidSOS, a NYC-based advanced emergency technology platform that sends rich data from connected devices to first responders, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Playground Global, with participation from Highland Capital Partners, Microsoft venture fund M12, Two Sigma Ventures, Forte Ventures, The Westly Group, CSAA IG and others.

BELOW THE FOLD

Post-Election Stress Disorder: Noting “elections make us sick,” ExpertClick shares some ideas on releasing that midterm-inspired angst.

Germaphobia: If you weren’t worried about washing before, wait until you hear Mental Floss’ dirty truth about getting clean. (Hint: You’re likely scrubbing all wrong.)  

And other neuroses: From our friends at Business 2 Community, how to beat “innovation management anxiety” and free up that next big idea.

Relax, and think NYIT: Please continue to support the great institutions that support Innovate LI, including NYIT, where Vice President Nada Anid and friends are calmly cultivating 21st century thought.