Summer trip: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and the midpoint of another exciting week of socioeconomic innovation on Long Island and around the globe.
Nationale viering: Belgium is much more than waffles and chocolates.
On that note, happy Liberation Day to our many readers in Guam; a peaceful Racial Harmony Day to readers across Singapore; and a joyous Belgian National Day to readers in Belgium.
Give us a break: Before we dive in, a quick reminder that Innovate Long Island is kicking back for a few days – so no newsletter Friday (July 23). Back at you with your regularly scheduled newsletter on Monday (July 26).
Let’s be frank: For now, it’s July 21 out there and the third Wednesday in July, marking a true dietary delight – today is National Hot Dog Day (we’ll take two with onions, relish, mustard and ketchup, thank you).
Coincidentally, but appropriately, July 21 is always National Junk Food Day, when we can indulge guilt-free in dogs, burgers, chips, dips, cakes, candies and other deep-fried, fatty foodstuffs.
Liquor license: July 21 is also National Legal Drinking Age Day, “celebrating” the U.S. Congress’ 1984 decision to set the national booze-purchasing age at 21 – a controversial decision that breeds underage drinking and otherwise ferments bad habits, according to some.
For those keeping score, you can legally drive a car, marry, have children, go to war and purchase a gun years before you can take a drink.
Choo-choo, eh: They surely popped a few corks 185 years ago today, when Canada’s first public railroad, connecting the Quebec towns of La Prarie and Saint-Jean, opened for business.
On track: The massive Trans-Siberian Railroad stretches more than 5,700 miles.
Long haul: In other railroad news, Russia’s 5,772-mile Trans-Siberian Railroad – still the world’s longest single railway system – was completed on July 21, 1904, after a decade of construction.
“Open” and shut case: Speaking of Mother Russia, President Dwight Eisenhower proposed the “Open Skies” initiative on this date in 1955, suggesting the United States and the Soviet Union reveal all their military installations and allow the other side to conduct treaty-reinforcing aerial surveillance.
The Soviets refused – and it turns out Eisenhower had ulterior motives.
Baby monitor: Ultrasound for medical diagnostics became a thing on that same day – July 21, 1955 – when English physician Ian Donald first investigated the science, already in play in engineering and other fields, as an obstetrics tool.
Tau-ering achievement: And it was July 21, 2000, when the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois announced the first direct evidence of a previously theorized subatomic particle called the tau neutrino.
The third known neutrino type – after the electron neutrino and the muon neutrino – is considered the primary building block of all matter.
Star trekker: French astronomer, cartographer and engineer Jean Picard (1620-1682) – who did not command the Starship Enterprise but is considered the French founder of modern astronomy, including spot-on measurements of the diameter of the sun and other celestial bodies – would be 401 years old today.
Papa: Simplistic linguist, complicated man.
Also born on July 21 were French chemist and physicist Henri-Victor Regnault (1810-1878), a real gas giant; American rancher, schoolteacher, entrepreneur and philanthropist Henrietta Maria King (1832-1925), a brilliant businesswoman who founded schools and supported hospitals; immortal American novelist, journalist, sportsman and Noble laureate Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), a true global adventurer; Canadian writer Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), philosopher of communication theory; and American comedian and actor Robin Williams (1951-2014), an all-time great and true embodiment of the “tragic clown.”
Tru dat: And take a bow, Garretson Beekman Trudeau! The Pulitzer Prize-winning American cartoonist, known best for creating the “Doonesbury” comic strip, turns 73 today.
Wish the polarizing cartoonist well at editor@innovateli.com, where we always draw inspiration from your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Farrell Fritz, a full-service law firm with 15 practice groups, advises startups on entity formation, founder and shareholder agreements, funding, executive compensation and benefits, licensing and technology transfer, mergers and acquisitions and other strategic transactions. The firm’s blog, New York Venture Hub, discusses legal and business issues facing entrepreneurs and investors.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Cutting Plainedge: The Plainedge Union Free School District has broken ground on a new Plainedge High School cafeteria with 21st century amenities and an accelerated construction timetable.
Slated to be completed by this fall, the $4 million, 7,000-square-foot “Cafeteria Commons” repurposes an existing space into a “college commons-like setting for students, faculty and more,” according to Hicksville-based architect Mark Design Studios, which conceived the cutting-edge cafeteria after drawing up the Massapequa-based school district’s new athletics complex/fitness center, among other regional school projects. Cafeteria Commons includes multiple configurations – booth seating with charging stations, counter seating, a “Quiet Café” for students who study while snacking and an outdoor court – all ideally suited to after-school clubs and PTA meetings.
The multipurpose cafeteria is “unlike any other high school cafeteria in New York State,” noted Plainedge Superintendent of Schools Edward Salina Jr. – exactly what Mark Design Studios intended, according to Design Director Irene Yim. “Traditional cafeterias are often loud, sterile and uninviting,” Yim said. “The new commons will feature modern porcelain finishes, appropriate acoustic control, easily cleanable hard and soft seating, and a cool and vibrant color palette with Plainedge school colors as an accent to boost school spirit.”
Chemical bonds: IRES students connect with an international array of scientists, notes Adelphi University Associate Professor Justyna Widera-Kalinowska.
Poland spring: A $300,000 National Science Foundation grant will bolster an ongoing research collaboration teaming Adelphi University and Poland’s University of Warsaw.
International Research Experiences for Students, a solar-energy effort that dates back to 2014, is a unique opportunity for U.S. students to perform research abroad in fields ranging from nanotechnology to solar-energy conversion to the development of new composite materials, key to many alternative-energy projects. The new NSF support will allow six students per year from Garden City-based Adelphi – 18 total over the award’s lifetime – to work side-by-side with renowned European scientists.
Continuing the program is a tremendous win for Adelphi, according to Justyna Widera-Kalinowska, an associate professor of chemistry and Adelphi’s IRES coordinator. “[IRES] has helped my students to get state-of-the-art training, preparing them for real-world challenges and turning them into young professionals and world citizens,” the University of Warsaw alumnae said in a statement. “The students from my research group … are continuing their education in top schools in the U.S. including Cornell, Princeton (and the) University of California, and, in Europe, Delft University.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 3: Adrienne Esposito, environmental warrior.
Scientists, CEOs, builders, environmentalists, filmmakers, clean-energy experts, marketing pros … the Long Island innovation economy has many leaders, and a dozen of the best have made Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast essential listening for regional executives and entrepreneurs alike. Season 2 is coming soon – but first, catch up on Season 1!
TOP OF THE SITE
Culture club: A Port Jefferson-based yogurt maker with a Bulgarian background is close to a deal with Sam’s Club, Walmart’s membership-based subsidiary.
Cameras in the courtroom: Suffolk County Community College production interns are creating new training videos for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Summer reading: Innovation is always in season in our engaging, thrice-weekly newsletters – and the best part is subscriptions for your entire innovation team are always easy, always free.
VOICES
The power of social media has helped college athletes – vital cogs in billion-dollar athletics systems – win the right to profit off their names, images and likenesses. But there’s a dark side to NIL rights, warns Voices media master and ZE Creative Communications Executive Vice President David Chauvin, who balances both sides of the delicate debate.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Forward thinking: Behold, the 50 most innovative companies of 2021. Visual Capitalist counts them down.
Tired of this: And you’re not alone – COVID-fueled fatigue is on the rise. Huffpost feels a little anxious.
Not aging well: Innovation isn’t keeping up with elderly care. The Boston Globe minds the gap.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Community Capital Technology, a New York City-based enterprise-loan marketplace and business-intelligence platform, raised $2.6 million in seed funding led by Naples Technology Ventures, with participation from 412 Venture Fund, Allegheny Financial Group, fintech entrepreneurs and angel investors.
+ Flock Safety, a Georgia-based public-safety operating system uniting municipal governments, law enforcement agencies and private communities, raised $150 million in Series D funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, Initialized, Meritech, Bedrock and Matrix Partners.
+ Perfitly, a NYC-based VR-, AR- and AI-powered virtual fitting room for e-retailers, closed a $725,000 equity crowdfunding round through SeedInvest.
+ Natural Fiber Welding, an Illinois-based manufacturer creating durable goods from sustainable plants and natural fibers, raised $15 million in funding led by The Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, with participation from BMW i Ventures, Prairie Crest Capital, Ethos Capital, For Good Ventures and Evolution VC Partners.
+ Verve Motion, a Massachusetts-based wearable-robotics startup, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Construct Capital, Founder Collective, Pillar VC, Safar Partners, OUP and multiple angel investors.
+ Morty, a NYC-based online mortgage marketplace, closed a $25 million Series B financing led by March Capital, with participation from Rethink Impact and existing investors Thrive Capital, Lerer Hippeau, Prudence Holdings, FJ Labs and Metaprop.
BELOW THE FOLD
Unstable: There’s something frighteningly familiar about “stablecoin” cryptocurrency.
18th Century terror: Three-hundred-year-old healthcare practices that will scare the life out of you.
19th Century risk: How “stablecoin” cryptocurrency mirrors mid-1800s wildcat banking, and why that’s bad.
20th Century trustbuster: Why President Biden wants to take antirust laws back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt.
21st Century expertise: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Farrell Fritz, where a cutting-edge understanding of the latest corporate-law developments keeps clients out in front. Check them out.
