Astronomical achievement: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we streak toward our Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice (T-minus four days) and plow through this latest busy week of socioeconomic innovation.
You’re doing a fantastic job, by the way – keep it up.
Fudge it a little: Or a lot, on National Fudge Day.
Superfudge: Rejoice, chocoholics! Your compulsive consumption is richly rewarded on June 16, a.k.a. National Fudge Day.
On the other end of the edible spectrum, today is also National Fresh Veggies Day, which is great and all … but, come on. Fudge.
Full Bloom: For the literary set, June 16 is known far and wide as Bloomsday, celebrating the life and legacy of influential Irish writer James Joyce. (No, it’s not his birthday – June 16, 1904, is the date things go down in “Ulysses,” arguably Joyce’s best-known work.)
Before there was the “Cyclone”…: There was America’s first roller coaster, inventor LaMarcus Thompson’s “switchback railway,” which ambled along at a less-than-breakneck 6 miles per hour, cost a nickel per ride and debuted on this date in 1884 on Coney Island.
Real prize: Cracker Jack – the beloved snack combining popcorn, red peanuts and molasses – cracked the zeitgeist on this date in 1893, when inventor F.W. Rueckheim introduced it at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
For those keeping score, the “prize in every box” – one of history’s most enduring marketing schemes – didn’t become a thing until 1912.
Ask for it by name: Caleb “Brad” Bradham, pop star.
The name of a new generation: Another all-time junk food, “Pepsi-Cola” – the pop originally introduced as “Brad’s Drink,” referencing inventor Caleb Bradham – was officially trademarked on this date in 1903.
Roll out: On that same day – June 16, 1903 – legendary innovator Henry Ford and select stockholders met in Detroit to sign the required paperwork for the creation of new corporation.
The Ford Motor Co. was officially incorporated when the papers were filed the next day.
Machine learning: And speaking of massive corporate firsts, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. – which later morphed into global technological and cultural trailblazer IBM – was founded on June 16, 1911, in Ohio.
Outta cytogenic: American scientist Barbara McClintock (1902-1992) – a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory mainstay and 1983 Nobel Prize winner, considered one of history’s most gifted and influential geneticists – would be 119 years old today.
By any other name: In Geronimo’s case, “The One Who Yawns” is a slightly misleading translation.
Also born on June 16 were Scottish economist, philosopher and political-science pioneer Adam Smith (1723-1790), the “father of modern economics”; Apache medicine man, leader and resistance fighter Geronimo (1829-1909); Russian cosmologist and mathematician Alexander Friedmann (1888-1925), the first to compute that the universe is expanding; American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson (1902-1984), a champion of natural selection remembered as the most influential paleontologist of all time; and American biologist Archie Fairley Carr Jr. (1909-1987), the world’s foremost authority on turtles.
Lefty: And take a bow, Philip Alfred Mickelson! The American professional golfer – who last month became the oldest person to win a PGA major, and one of only 10 to win majors in three different decades – turns 51 today.
Wish the champion linkster well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips and calendar events look like a mirac … it’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!
About our sponsor: Bridgeworks is Long Island’s modern coworking and office space. Headquartered in Long Beach, our workspace offers flexible month-to-month private offices, meeting rooms and innovative amenities for companies of all types. Membership includes onsite management, high-speed Internet access, mail services, full café, onsite parking and easy access to the Long Island Rail Road. Members also gain early access to the Airbnb for commercial real-estate, DropDesk.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Unrestricted, finally: Is the global pandemic over? Not quite. Are New York State’s COVID-19 restrictions over? You betcha.
Effective immediately, all state restrictions are kaput – including “guidance” affecting offices, gyms, salons and other commercial settings, where masks and social distancing are no longer required (but remain an option for property owners). Unvaccinated adults must still wear a mask as per U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which also remain in effect for large-scale indoor venues, public schools, public transit and healthcare settings, but with 70 percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and up having received at least one dose of their COVID-19 vaccination series, the state has taken a giant leap back toward normalcy.
The restrictions were lifted on the very day the nation passed 600,000 COVID-related deaths – but New York, once the epicenter of the deadly disease, now boasts the nation’s lowest seven-day positive-test rate. “What New York has done is extraordinary,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. “Congratulations to New Yorkers, because they are the ones who did it … the state mandates that have proven right and brought us through this pandemic are relaxed as of today, effective immediately.”
Solar flair: EmPower Solar CEO David Schieren keynotes the virtual New York Tech Energy Conference.
Energetic, virtually: Greener power, cleaner air and lower greenhouse gas emissions set the tone at the New York Institute of Technology’s virtual Energy Conference, held June 9.
Moderated by Associate Professor Robert Amundsen, the college’s energy management chairman, and keynoted by New York Tech alumnus and EmPower Solar CEO David Schieren, the conference – titled “Building Sustainable Communities” – focused largely on innovative energy-related research and capital investments at New York Tech campuses in New York and Vancouver. Among the topics discussed were the redesign of residential and commercial energy infrastructures, demand-based “smart pricing” across the electric grid and improving health through better air-quality and ventilation technologies.
In his keynote, Schieren noted the rapid pace of climate change and increasing demands on the nation’s electricity infrastructure, requiring a “transformation” in the ways energy is generated, stored and delivered. “We have used the word ‘disruption’ before, or ‘early adopters’ or maybe ‘demonstration projects,’ but now it’s all about transformation,” the EmPower Solar CEO said. “Each state has its own program. Some are mandates, some are just goals, and the federal government is talking about ways to create a firm goal, which is complicated by politics … so we have quite a lot of work to do, and it’s quite a daunting challenge.”
POD PEOPLE
We’re nine episodes into Season 1 of our neato podcast series, with more excellent conversations to come. Missed an episode? No worries – catch up now with Michael Dowling, Adrienne Esposito, Mitch Pally, Rosalie Drago and all of our very special guests. Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast, now streaming!
TOP OF THE SITE
Breaking good: Hofstra has broken ground on its new $75 million Science and Innovation Center – happy news for students and the regional economy.
Check marks: Nassau County can land federal pandemic-recovery funds easily enough – what happens next is critical, according to the county comptroller.
And share alike: We love it when you forward this informative newsletter to your innovation team, but what are you, the mailman? They need their own easy and free subscriptions!
VOICES
Michael Sahn: Gauging the winds.
When the wind blows, Long Island can rock – but there’s a fine line between leading the nation’s emerging offshore-wind industry and blowing it, big-time. Fortunately, legal anchor Michael Sahn, sees a clear path forward.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Spread it around: The key to fast-tracking innovation is giving power to your people. Fortune delegates.
Absorbing “China shock”: It’s globalization vs. innovation as surging China alters worldwide manufacturing norms. Project Syndicate explains.
But somebody’s got to do it: These “dirty” jobs – and pretty dangerous, too – are critical to building the future. Axios gets its hands dirty.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Senda Biosciences, a Massachusetts-based biotech developing medicines based on molecular interactions, raised a $55 million Series B extension financing. Investors included Flagship Pioneering, Longevity Vision Fund, the Mayo Clinic, Partners Investment, Mint Venture Partners and the State of Michigan Retirement System, among others.
+ TestBox, a Colorado-based platform that allows consumers to test and compare software before buying it, raised $2.7 million in seed funding. Backers included SignalFire, Firstminute Capital, Basecamp Fund and other private investors.
+ Cerebral Inc., a California-based provider of online psychiatric and behavioral-therapy services, received $127 million in Series B funding led by Access Industries, with participation from WestCap, Silver Lake Waterman, Artis Ventures, Bill Ackman, Oak HC/FT, Chris Burch, AirAngels and others.
+ Kurome Therapeutics, an Ohio-based biotech targeting adaptive resistance mechanisms in cancer, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Medicxi and Affinity Asset Advisors, with participation from founding investor CincyTech and other existing seed investors.
+ Blu Ocean Barns, a Hawaii-based red seaweed manufacturer, raised $5 million in seed funding led by Valor Siren Ventures.
+ InSpace, a Vermont-based videoconferencing platform geared toward students and teachers, raised $6 million in two seed funding rounds led by Boston Seed Capital, Gutbrain Ventures and PBJ Capital.
BELOW THE FOLD (Back To Nature Edition)
Plan bee: A honey of a deal.
This land is your land: Across the country, thousands of acres are being returned to Native tribes, which are all-in on conservation.
Hive mind: An innovative Boston company wants to put a honeybee colony in your yard. (Note: You keep the honey!)
Plant parenthood: Behold, a millennial trend that greens thumbs, eschews smartphones and might even improve mental health.
Grow with them: Please continue supporting the amazing companies that support Innovate Long Island, including Bridgeworks, where flexible co-working spaces are ripe for the picking. Check them out.
