Put it in the books: It’s Friday in October, friends, and all seems right – Yankees fans are cheering, Mets fans are crushed and you’ve reached the end of another exciting and productive workweek.
The puck has dropped on a fresh NHL season, too, and of course there’s football – but before we get to a weekend of sports, one more day of work. Play ball!
Incredible, edible: It’s Oct. 14 out there, and this particular Oct. 14 happens to be World Egg Day, an annual second-Friday-of-October production of the International Egg Commission (real!) honoring the wobbly cornerstone of global nutrition.
Top off: Editor Zeller, skin in the game.
Hair today, gone tomorrow: And that’s OK on Be Bald and Be Free Day, a yearly coronation of the naked crown.
And chrome domes (along with everyone else) get to dig in on National Dessert Day, an annual Viennese table rolled out every Oct. 14.
Prize possession: Did someone say Vienna? That’s where Alfred Nobel was born – yes, that Alfred Nobel, the same one who earned his first patent on Oct. 14, 1863, for the preparation of nitroglycerine (with 354 more patents to follow).
Strip search: Speaking of picturesque patents, master innovator George Eastman locked up his revolutionary paper-strip photographic film on this date in 1884.
Ideally eidetic: You know who had a photographic memory? Sherlock Holmes, whose “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” – the first of four Holmes collections by Arthur Conan Doyle – was published 130 years ago today.
Glamour shot: Yeager and his historic ride, the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis.
Need for speed: Other great adventurers associated with this date include World War II veteran-turned-fearless test pilot Chuck Yeager, who became the first human to break the sound barrier (and the gazillionth to break a few ribs) on Oct. 14, 1947.
Live, from spaaaaace: And it was this date in 1968 when the astronauts of Apollo 7 transmitted the first-ever live broadcast from a manned U.S. spacecraft.
Crew members Wally Schirra, Walt Cunningham and Donn Eisele – orbiting over the Southeastern United States during the groundbreaking broadcast – brought the funny.
Penn and paper: English writer and philosopher William Penn (1644-1718) – who laid the groundwork for the future United States Constitution when he instilled democratic principles in his namesake Province of Pennsylvania – would be 378 years old today.
Ush my darling: Yes, there is an Usher Raymond V.
Also born on Oct. 14 were New Zealand writer and journalist Kathleen Mansfield Murry (1888-1923), a short story master who helped mainstream the format; American statesman Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower (1890-1969), World War II Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and 34th U.S. President; American electrical engineer George Brown (1908-1987), who raised radio and television broadcast antennas; American pediatric surgeon C. Everett Koop (1916-2013), the 13th U.S. surgeon general; and American fashion designer Ralph Lauren (born 1939), a billionaire businessman, renowned philanthropist and rare-auto enthusiast.
Ush job: And take a bow, Usher Raymond IV! The multiple Grammy-winner of late 1990s/early 2000s fame – just “Usher” to his fans, and there are still many – turns 44 today.
OMG – give the R&B chart-topper your best at editor@innovateli.com, where DJ (and your news tips) Got Us Fallin’ in Love and you’ll be Our Boo with a cool calendar event. (Yeah!)
About our sponsor: Farmingdale State College delivers exceptional academic and applied-learning outcomes through scholarship, research and student engagement. Our commitment to student-centered learning and inclusiveness prepares exemplary citizens equipped to excel in a competitive, diverse and technically dynamic society. Long Island’s first public institution of higher education, Farmingdale State is a regional economic cornerstone, with 96 percent of graduates working in New York State and 75 percent working on Long Island. We prepare emerging leaders in the growing technology, engineering, business and healthcare fields. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Center stages: The Adelphi University campus community has two new spaces to socialize and unwind – one promoting multiculturalism, the other peace of mind.
Officially opened in September on the third floor of the Garden City university’s Ruth S. Harley University Center, Adelphi’s new Multicultural Center and new Mindfulness Center create a multifaceted hub for activities, celebrations and explorations of cultural identities. The Mindfulness Center – a soft space where meditation and personal reflection are encouraged – “helps support our community’s holistic wellbeing,” according to Adelphi University Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Anna Zinko. “It provides a quiet respite for community members to reset and will host dynamic programs throughout the year to support … the practice of mindfulness.”
With spaces reserved for performance and conversation, the Multicultural Center is designed to give all students – especially non-White, LGBTQ+, international and first-generation collegians – a voice and a stage (literally). “The Multicultural Center is a tangible sign of Adelphi University’s commitment to being a model of diversity and inclusion,” Zinko added. “It is a space where students can connect with one another (and) engage in meaningful dialogue.”
Closer look: GI Genius does its thing.
Second set of eyes: An artificially intelligent deep-learning technology is bringing up the rear for South Shore University Hospital colonoscopy patients.
Northwell Health’s Bay Shore hospital has rolled out GI Genius, an “intelligent endoscopy module” by Irish multinational Medtronic that instantly consults a 13-million-image database to detect abnormalities invisible to the naked eye. The AI-powered software employs an algorithm similar to facial-recognition programs to spot potential trouble – in this case, tiny lesions that might otherwise escape detection, significantly improving the odds against colon cancer, the second-most-common cause of U.S. cancer deaths.
GI Genius boasts an “overall sensitivity rate per lesion of 99 percent,” according to Northwell, and is 82 percent faster at spotting lesions than the typical human endoscopist – at least one of whom isn’t intimidated, but rather encouraged by the next-level tech. “It’s now two visual participants … trying to improve the detection of lesions,” noted SSUH Associate Medical Director Aaron Harrison, a gastroenterologist by trade. “It helps me spot polyps that otherwise could have been missed [and] decreasing the miss rate … will undoubtedly save even more lives.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Identity crisis: Long Island’s LGBTQ+ communities report severe depression, anxiety and worse in an eye-opening mental-health survey led by Stony Brook Medicine.
The future is now: Applied DNA Science’s latest LinearDNA breakthrough can stop COVID – and maybe do a whole lot more.
Secrets are out: Season 3 continues next week … catch up on everything (and everyone) you’ve missed on Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast, where Long Island leaders and other inspirational innovators share their secrets.
ICYMI
The first BrandSlam is in the books; Northwell’s next medical assistants are on the way.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From Pennsylvania: Malvern-based digital publisher Accessible Archives revisits the late 19th/early 20th centuries with African American Newspapers of the South.
From Colorado: Louisville-based small-satellite industry leader Orion Space Solutions earns NOAA contract for next-generation Earth observation system.
From New York City: Vast volunteer network New York Cares supersizes NYC public-school fundraising with innovative web3 upgrade.
ON THE MOVE
Samara Ginzburg
+ Samara Ginzburg has been promoted to vice dean and dean for education at the Hempstead-based Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. She previously served as senior associate dean for education and associate professor of medicine and science education.
+ Christopher Nelson has been named president of Catholic Health’s St. Joseph Hospital in Bethpage. He was vice president of operations for NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola.
+ Enid Cuevas Guzman has been hired as an accounting coordinator for Ronkonkoma-based Campolo, Middleton & McCormick. She was a waitress at Chili’s Restaurant.
+ Sandra Lindsay has been promoted to vice president of public health advocacy at Northwell Health. She previously served as director of nursing critical care at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park.
+ Ben Zeitlin has been hired as an account director at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. He was a business development director at Atlantean Technologies in Glen Cove.
+ Teresa Staiano has been hired as an associate at Islandia-based Lewis Johs Avallone Aviles. She is a recent graduate of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University in Hempstead.
+ Jothy Narendran has been appointed chairman of the Touro University Law Center Board of Governors. She is co-managing partner of Jaspan Schlesinger LLP and chairs the firm’s Banking and Financial Services Practice Group.
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 (Cuddle Up For A Movie Edition)
High point: Gary Cooper’s Will Kane faces his destiny in the 1952 classic “High Noon.”
Fill your hand, you son of a &!+©#: The best westerns.
Good for a few laughs: The best comedies (according to Reddit users).
Keeping the “science” in “sci-fi”: The best futuristic flicks (based on real science).
Best picture: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Farmingdale State College, where it’s easy to picture the best future you. Check them out.
