Already in progress: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we rejoin our broadcast in the middle of another exciting week of socioeconomic innovation and at the midpoint of the calendar year’s busiest stretch. Let’s jump right in.
Mmmmm: America’s best-selling candy has its day.
Perfect fit: From the Two Great Holidays That Go Great Together file comes National No Bra Day, springing free every Oct. 13, and National Curves Day, always celebrating plus-sizes on the second Wednesday of October.
Speaking of plus-sizes, if you’re gonna do it, do it right: Oct. 13 is both National Yorkshire Pudding Day, saluting the fried batter/roasted meat combo, and National M&M Day, saluting America’s top-selling candy.
Try, try again: Today is also the International Day for Failure, when we’re encouraged to learn from disappointments and also-rans – and especially from our own mistakes.
If by sea: Turning to unmitigated successes, Oct. 13 is also the unofficial birthday of the U.S. Navy, which sailed into existence on this date in 1775, when the Continental Congress established a naval force to counter the brawny British armada.
That small fleet of privateers has grown into the mightiest sea force the world has ever known, with a sheer tonnage (3.4 million tons) that more than quadruples Earth’s second-largest navy (Russia’s 845,000 tons).
Skyline: The City of Boston, circa 1860, from way up there.
If by air: From the sea to the sky, where photographer James Black snapped the first American aerial photograph 161 years ago today, aboard a balloon floating about 1,200 feet above Boston.
For the record, the first known aerial photo was taken two years earlier by French shutterbug Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, who captured a bird’s-eye view of Paris.
0° 0′ 0″: Back at ground level, the London borough of Greenwich was established as the Universal Time meridian of longitude – from which all world time zones are based – on this date in 1884.
Twisting and shouting: “Beatlemania” entered the zeitgeist on Oct. 13, 1963, when the Fab Four headlined “Sunday Night at the London Palladium” and observers coined the phrase to describe the delirious fans.
Showtime: And speaking of flashy fan service, the American Basketball Association – featuring the run-and-gun, three-point shots, multicolored balls, bikini-clad cheerleaders and other brazen alternatives to the relatively stodgy National Basketball Association – debuted on this date in 1967.
She is Iron Lady: British stateswoman Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher (1925-2013) – the first woman to serve as British prime minister and a figurehead of conservative ideology – would be 96 years old today.
Easy rider: The legendary Pat Day, aboard 1992 Kentucky Derby winner Lil E. Tee.
Also born on Oct. 13 were French historian Jules Quicherat (1814-1882), the “father of French archeology”; Canadian geologist and paleobotanist Sir John Dawson (1820-1899), the first Canadian scientist to gain international recognition; German physician, anthropologist and biologist Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), who founded cellular pathology; English ethnographer and explorer Mary Kingsley (1862-1900), who shaped European perceptions of African cultures; and American thoroughbred horse jockey Pat Day (born 1953), who retired fourth all-time in both victories and earnings.
Gift of pleasant natal day salutations to sexy English comedy man portraying fictional Kazakh journalist: And take a bow, Sacha Noam Baron Cohen! The English actor, writer and producer – known best for his portrayals of satirical characters Ali G and Borat Sagdiyev – turns 50 today.
Give the racist, vulgar, brazen and utterly hilarious comedian your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our cultural learnings start with your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Presberg Law P.C. is Long Island’s premier “IDA” and business-law firm for businesses locating, relocating and expanding on Long Island. Founded in 1984, this multigenerational practice focuses on the purchase, sale, leasing and financing of commercial and industrial real estate, SBA and other loan transactions, construction projects and business sales and acquisitions.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Beach day: Dianna Padilla will reimagine America’s urban coastlines.
Shore thing: A Stony Brook University conservation expert will lead a multidisciplined team in the digital design of a new U.S. coastline – key to saving beachfronts from the damaging effects of climate change.
Dianna Padilla, a professor in SBU’s Department of Ecology & Evolution, has received a roughly $750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator Program, which unites scientists on missions leading to high-impact social solutions. In this case, Padilla is leading researchers from Stony Brook, Rutgers University, Sweden’s Stockholm Resilience Centre and Arup US – domestic branch of the multinational environmental company – in the creation of a digital prototype of infrastructure work required to counter the damaging effects of major ocean storms and rising sea levels along urban shorelines.
The project, which will also include contributions from New York City-based KolMac Architecture+Design and NYC-based Philip Parker Architect, will answer a significant American infrastructure need and, according to the plan, be “scalable and transportable,” potentially providing benefits for urbanized shorelines around the world. “There is a need for innovating a new generation of replacements for existing hardened shorelines that will protect the urban edge, while supporting biodiversity and expanding human experience at the coastal interface,” SBU said in a statement.
Off-shore thing: New York State has made its largest offshore-wind supply chain investment to date – and it has nothing to do with Long Island.
Instead, the $86 million contract award goes to New Jersey-based Riggs Distler & Company, which has been hired to construct “advanced foundation components for wind turbines” at the Port of Coeymans, an inland marine terminal located on the banks of the Hudson River about 10 miles south of Albany. Important to developers Ørsted and Eversource Energy and their Sunrise Wind development, the Port of Coeymans project will create 230 Capital Region jobs and incorporate steel from Western New York manufacturers, creating a win-win-win scenario for local employment, the statewide economy and the New York’s natural ecosystem.
The work at Port of Coeymans – sometimes referred to as the P&M Brick Marine Terminal, for former site owner Powell & Minnock Brick Co. – proves the entwined relationship of economy and ecology, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul, and shows that wind-power initiatives are not exclusive to coastal communities. “We are going to be bold in how we achieve our climate goals,” the governor said. “With our upcoming early 2022 offshore-wind solicitation, New York will again demonstrate its national leadership in the acceleration to a green economy.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 11: Christine Riordan, advancing Adelphi.
Drumroll, please … Season 2 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s and otherwise gearing up for its Oct. 20 debut. Before then, make sure you’re caught up with the Season 1’s dynamic dozen: 12 amazing conversations packed with knowledge and experience from across the Long Island innovation economy, yours for the listening.
TOP OF THE SITE
Start of something big: Hofstra’s new president is on the job – and promising some big changes at Long Island’s largest private university.
Coastal concern: Stony Brook University scientists don’t have much nice to say about the state of Long Island’s lakes, estuaries and bays.
DIY: Please forward this engaging and entertaining newsletter to your innovation team, then send them the always easy, always free subscription link – about time they got their own, don’tcha think?
VOICES
Social media kingpin Facebook has systematically lied about the negative side effects of its platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp – and it’s time for truth, according to Voices media master and ZE Creative Communications Executive Vice President David Chauvin, who sees last week’s outage as a societal wake-up call.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Eight is enough: Science has discovered 461 new objects in the outer Solar System – but no ninth planet. SciTech Daily keeps on looking.
Crypto keeper: Maybe cryptocurrency isn’t so innovative after all. National Review lifts the curtain.
Better … or not? In academia, “innovation” and “improvement” are not synonymous. Inside Higher Ed defines the difference.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Mindful Care, a New York City-based healthcare provider bringing the urgent-care model to the mental-health industry, closed a $2.7 million Series A funding round led by Sopris Capital, with participation from the Caruso Foundation, the University of Chicago, Venkon Group and others.
+ Exo Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based biotech focused on small-molecule drug discovery and development, closed a $78 million Series B financing led by Nextech Invest, with participation from BVF Partners, Samsara Biocapital, Morningside, Casdin Capital, Newpath Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, CRV and 6 Dimensions Capital.
+ TruckLabs, a California-based transportation-tech company, raised $15 million in Series A funding co-led by returning investors Calibrate Ventures, Autotech Ventures and Uncork Capital.
+ Catalyst OrthoScience, a Florida-based medical-device company focused on upper-extremity orthopedics, raised $12.3 million in Series D financing led by River Cities Capital and Mutual Capital Partners.
+ Peak Nanosystems, an Ohio-based commercialization engine for nanotech companies, raised $25 million in funding. Squadron Capital made the investment.
+ BrightHire, a NYC-based intelligent-interview platform, secured a $20.5 million Series B funding round led by 01A, with participation from Index Ventures, Zoom Apps Fund, Ground Up Ventures, Haystack and J Ventures.
BELOW THE FOLD (Candyland Edition)
Love it or hate it: We’re with you on the latter.
Innovation in your mouth: How Reese’s keeps pushing the creative envelope.
Fun-sized: What do 100 calories of your favorite Halloween candy really look like?
Children of the corn: Why some people love candy corn, and some recognize it as horrifying hellspawn.
Sweet: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Presberg Law, where they always protect your business-law interests – with sugar on top. Check them out.
