Sol train: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we shine our way through another sunny springtime workweek.
It’s May 11 out there, and as Long Island slowly warms, the socioeconomic innovation really heats up. Fortunately, we’ve got it covered – and you’ve got it made in the shade.
The Rod of mischief: Serling, ace anthologist.
Beyond that which is known to man: May 11, of course, is known best as National Twilight Zone Day, for reasons known only in the fifth dimension – creator Rod Serling was born on Christmas and died on June 28; his supernatural masterwork, which ran originally from 1959 to 1964 on the CBS television network, debuted on Oct. 2 and has no obvious connection to this date.
Speaking of new dimensions, today is also National Eat What You Want Day. Many of us are still recovering from last week’s International No Diet Day, so maybe take it slow.
General hospital: Gastrointestinal issues were certainly in play at the first public hospital in the American colonies, which was chartered on this date in 1751.
Housed initially in a private home, Pennsylvania Hospital – still kicking – admitted its first patients in February 1753.
Guiding light: The New York Gas Co. began laying cast-iron pipes along Broadway 197 years ago today, a first step toward modernizing a city previously lit by whale-oil lamps.
Palace intrigue: Before there were daily soaps, there was 1928’s “The Queen’s Messenger.”
Days of our lives: The first-ever regularly scheduled television broadcasts began on this date in 1928 – a General Electric experiment in Schenectady, where two hours of programming was beamed out three days a week.
For those keeping score, the first live program was a daytime drama: “The Queen’s Messenger,” broadcast later in 1928.
Another world: Coincident-current magnetic storage became a thing on May 11, 1951, when MIT scientist Jay Forrester filed to patent his revolutionary storage device and forever reprogrammed the digital-computing world.
Dynasty: And now for something completely different – legendary, multitalented British comedy troupe Monty Python debuted on this date in 1969.
Hello, Dali: One of a kind, on the canvas and off.
As surreal as it gets: Spanish artist Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí (1904-1989) – known best as master surrealist Salvador Dalí, renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship and bizarre imagery – would be 118 years old today.
Also born on May 11 were American composer, songwriter and lyricist Israel Beilin (a.k.a. Irving Berlin, 1888-1989), who was born in Imperial Russia; American dancer and choreographer Martha Graham (1894-1991), whose Graham technique reshaped modern dance; American pilot and business executive Jacqueline Cochran (1906-1980), the first woman to break the sound barrier, among other records; British radio astronomer Antony Hewish (1924-2021), who earned a 1974 Nobel Prize for discovering pulsars; and American author, television commentator and newspaper columnist Mike Lupica (born 1952), never afraid to shoot from the lip.
Gotta have heart: And take a bow, Robert Koffler Jarvik! The innovative American surgeon – who invented the Jarvik-7, the first artificial heart used as a permanent human implant – turns 76 today.
Wish the pioneering doctor well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips and calendar events really get our blood pumping.
About our sponsor: Farmingdale State College delivers exceptional academic and applied-learning outcomes through scholarship, research and student engagement for Long Island and beyond. Farmingdale State’s commitment to student-centered learning and inclusiveness prepares graduates to be exemplary citizens, equipped to excel in a competitive, diverse and technically dynamic society. The college solves the regional “brain drain” with 96 percent of FSC graduates working in New York State and 75 percent working on Long Island. Farmingdale State students rise to the challenge and are the emerging leaders of tomorrow. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Right formula: Fulbright Scholar Sarah Sadik, at home in the lab.
Postgrad prize: Long Island has logged another esteemed Fulbright Scholar – the first ever representing SUNY Old Westbury.
Sarah Sadik, who earned a biological sciences degree from the SUNY school in 2019, has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, covering the 2022-23 academic year. The prestigious award will send Sadik – who spent more than two post-graduation years as a Weill Cornell Medicine research associate – to Mauritius, a small island nation off Africa’s east coast, where she will assess the implementation of medical strategies designed to counter intimate-partner violence against women and children.
The first SUNY Old Westbury-related Fulbright Scholarship is the second in as many months for Long Island, which in April added Adelphi University doctoral candidate Jennifer Eileen Reddin Cassar to its illustrious Fulbright roster. “We are so proud of Sarah for earning a Fulbright award, and that Old Westbury played a role in her research interests and endeavors,” noted SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy Sams. “Sarah was an exceptional student who embodied the Old Westbury mission of ‘building a more just world.’”
Splendor in the grass: A Long Island-wide recreational volleyball association geared toward teens and adults is (finally) presenting its first volleyball-themed pride festival.
Dubbed “PrideFest,” the first-annual Grass Volleyball Pride Festival – originally scheduled for 2020, twice delayed by COVID – will unite volleyball enthusiasts, the LGBTQ+ community and “allies,” according to a statement from regional volleyball group VBLI, for a day of friendly competitions across various gender combinations and skill levels. A portion of the registration fees will support PFY (formerly Pride For Youth), a division of the Long Island Crisis Center on a mission to promote health and wellness in LGBTQ+ communities throughout Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The June 11 Eisenhower Park event – which will also feature an array of vendors and ultimately aims to raise upwards of $5,000 for PFY – is “a long time coming,” according to VBLI founder and Managing Director Glenn Yankow. “PrideFest … reflects the volleyball community’s altruism and diversity, especially in regards to sexuality and gender,” Yankow added. “We’re as inspired as ever to create a fun, memorable tournament, one to keep improving upon for years to come.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 11: Christine Riordan, Adelphi chief asset.
If we had to pick a favorite episode from the first two seasons of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast, it would be that funny and enlightening one with the amazing innovator sharing success secrets and a unique worldview. Wait … that’s all 24 of them!
TOP OF THE SITE
Academy awards: Two leading Long Island scientists – including all-world Feinstein Institutes researcher Betty Diamond – have earned nominations to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.
Remote chance: Expanded telehealth services could become a great social equalizer – but only if government and industry unite now, according to New York Tech EVP Jerry Balentine.
Get your fresh innovation here! Hot and juicy with plenty of mustard, steaming three times a week in your inbox – relish your own Innovate Long Island newsletter subscription, always easy and always free.
VOICES
With national lawmakers locked in endless debate, U.S. healthcare providers are stepping up to face down the national gun-violence epidemic, according to Northwell Health communications veteran and Voices healthcare anchor Terry Lynam.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Chain gang: Amazon names the first startups fueled by its $1 billion, logistics-focused industrial innovation fund. TechCrunch makes introductions.
Virtually identical: The computer graphics in the latest version of Epic’s Unreal Engine are indistinguishable from reality. TechSpot zooms in.
Jacked up: “Trendjacking” might be tech disruptors’ only chance against Apple, Google and other giants. Forbes pumps up the little guy.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Tomorrow Farms, a New York City-based food-tech, raised $8.5 million in seed funding led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Maveron, Valor Siren Ventures, Simple Food Ventures and SV Angel.
+ Showrunner, an Illinois-based filmmaking-technology innovator, raised $4 million in funding led by Lightbank, with participation from Craft Ventures, Gaingels, Allen Gannett and several angel investors.
+ SimpliSafe, a Massachusetts-based provider of home-security solutions, raised $200 million-plus in funding led by affiliates of Capital One, HPS Investment Partners, Owl Rock and Eastern Bank.
+ Group14 Technologies, a Washington State-based manufacturer of advanced silicon carbons for lithium-silicon batteries, raised $400 million in Series C funding led by Porsche AG, OMERS Capital Markets, Decarbonization Partners, Riverstone Holdings, Vsquared Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures and other large institutional investors.
+ Traceable AI, a California-based API security and observability specialist, raised $60 million in Series B funding led by Institutional Venture Partners, Tiger Global Management, Unusual Ventures and BIG Labs.
+ Spectrohm, a Virginia-based mail and package security solutions provider, raised $2 million in seed funding led by HCVC, with participation from Good Growth Capital, RavenTek, J. Hunt Holdings, Dragon Ventures and Klein Venture Partners.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask Farmingdale State). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD
War-haul: In just four minutes of bidding, the original “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” broke the bank at Christie’s.
Pricey ‘Blue’: Why Warhol’s iconic “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” auctioned for $195 million.
Seeing red: Why posters for movie comedies always feature big red letters.
Grateful Greens: Why Deadheads are getting their own salad blend.
Full spectrum: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Farmingdale State College, where personal development blends beautifully with academic achievement. Check them out.
