All the world’s a stage: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, and the final act of another well-staged workweek, replete with drama, character development and, we hope, a happy ending.
We’re here to add some innovative direction to your closing scenes. Positions, please … cue the lights … and, action!
Mixed message: Thank your mixologist today.
High bar: It’s not just any Friday, by the way, but World Bartender Day, and if there’s a better match of day and dedication, you let us know.
Sea plus: Whatever cocktail is tendered, there are plenty of good munchies on the Feb. 24 menu, starting with the nacho-riffic National Tortilla Chip Day.
Or try the fish and chips – you kinda gotta on National Tartar Sauce Day, always surfacing on the first meatless Friday of Lent.
Remember the date: Something seemed fishy to folks on Feb. 24, 1582, the day Pope Gregory XIII implemented a new calendar to replace the 1,600-year-old Julian Calendar (though some historians calculate the actual first day of the Gregorian Calendar as Oct. 15, 1582, with data to back that up).
Big dig: Much less ambiguous is the date Pennsylvania inventor William Otis patented the Otis Shovel, the earliest-known steam-powered excavator (that would be Feb. 24, 1839).
Sex machine: Darwin understood urges.
Initial ‘Descent’: Also digging deep was Charles Darwin, whose “Descent of Man” – all about sexual selection and the evolution of morals, but not as tawdry as it sounds – was first published 152 years ago today.
Showing their medal: Also not sexy is the Fields Medal, which is awarded every four years to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement and was established on Feb. 24, 1931, by the International Congress of Mathematicians.
A star is born: And it was this date in 1967 when the science journal Nature reported on mysterious discoveries by Cambridge University graduate student Jocelyn Bell Burnell, later identified as pulsars.
The Nobel Prize for Bell Burnell’s discovery, naturally, went to her male Cambridge professors – and she handled the snub with stellar grace.
A star is lost: American entrepreneur, inventor, investor and media magnate Steven Paul Jobs (1955-2011) – the technological revolutionary who proved the brightest flames burn half as long – would be 68 years old today.
Swelling with pride: Left paralyzed by a surfing accident, Jesse Billauer persevered.
Also born on Feb. 24 were English tinkerer Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729), who invented the “atmospheric engine,” the first practical steam engine; French inventor Jacques de Vaucanson (1709-1782), a machinery marvel who foreshadowed modern robotics; U.S. Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz (1885-1966), who commanded the Pacific Fleet during World War II; American academician Judith Butler (born 1956), a major thought influencer on philosophical feminism, cultural theory, queer theory and more; and American quadriplegic surfer Jesse Billauer (born 1979), who turned personal tragedy into limitless inspiration.
Always Zahn the move: And take a bow, Paula Ann Zahn! The American journalist and newscaster – whose résumé ticks off gigs at Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS and PBS, among other stops – turns 67 today.
Give Zahn – now hosting a true-crime documentary series on the Investigation Discovery Channel – your best at editor@innovateli.com, where it’s true that we love your news tips (and dropping a calendar event is no crime).
About our sponsor: The Long Island Business Development Council has helped build the regional economy for 54 years by bringing together government economic-development officials, developers, financial experts and others for education, debate and networking.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Ups and downs: A controversial centerpiece of regional socioeconomics – now a foundational piece of a potentially massive mid-Island redevelopment project – is soaring toward an uncertain future.
Once again auditioning for a starring role (this time, via the ambitious transit/tourism-focused Midway Crossing proposal), Long Island MacArthur Airport – the Town of Islip’s frustrating embodiment of never-quite-realized potential – has initiated a $26 million reconstruction effort. A new roof and various electrical and plumbing upgrades are on tap for the main terminal, along with the installation of a new facility-wide air-purification system and three new baggage carousels, all expected to be completed by Spring 2024, Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter told Newsday this week.
The facelift begins as LIMA lands on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Superfund list, due to “significant” chemical contamination in surrounding groundwater. Islip officials are on the job and have adamantly insisted there’s no danger to local drinking water; they’re also planning a public meeting to address the Superfund status and ongoing remediation efforts. Stay tuned.
Starting point: Adelphi psychologist Damian Stanley’s detailed COVID dataset is a strong baseline for other researchers.
Feeling it: A new study co-led by an Adelphi University psychologist details the emotional effects of the COVID pandemic, creating an unprecedented dataset with vast research potential.
The study, published this month in the peer-reviewed open-access journal Scientific Data, leverages a diverse selection of psychological and behavioral measures collected from roughly 1,000 U.S. residents between April 2020 and January 2021 – “a very turbulent year,” according to Adelphi Assistant Psychology Professor Damian Stanley, one of the study’s eight listed authors. Recognizing a scientifically significant global event in the making, the team sprang into action in March 2020, determined to record and decode the evolving pandemic’s psychological ramifications.
Leveraging a broad and “methodologically diverse” range of emotional and behavioral measures, the study doesn’t present specific conclusions, but does detail COVID’s psychological fallout – essential baseline knowledge for other researchers, according to Stanley. “We’re working on many studies using the dataset,” the researcher noted. “We are also very excited to see what interesting findings other groups will be able to produce.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Laser tag: The U.S. Air Force sees real air and space potential in the unique research of a New York Tech expert in mathematics, lasers and classical piano.
Rock solid: The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is partnering with rock ‘n’ roll legends to bring music into regional K-12 classrooms.
Recap: Previously on Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast: dozens of one-on-ones with leading Island educators, executives and inventors. Binge some genius!
ICYMI
Cautious optimism for commercial real estate, unbridled enthusiasm for STEM education.
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 North Carolina: Wilmington-based media franchisor The N2 Company nixes misleading metrics from display-ad programs.
From Georgia: Atlanta-based staffing startup LaborWorx leads well-financed mission to defeat construction-industry labor shortage.
From Illinois: Chicago-based death-tech trailblazer DigitalWill.com revolutionizes end-of-life planning with AI-powered digital undertaker.
ON THE MOVE
Marianela Casas
+ Marianela Casas has been appointed chief operating officer of the Ronkonkoma-based Association for Mental Health and Wellness. She is a former special advisor to Congressman Tom Suozzi and assistant commissioner for community engagement for the Nassau County Police Department.
+ Sandra Iannotti has joined Stony Brook Medicine’s Long Island Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine in Smithtown. She has been a practicing orthopedic surgeon for more than 20 years.
+ Brian Daughney has joined Garden City-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff as a partner in the Corporate, M&A and Securities Practice Group. He was a partner at Manhattan-based Becker & Poliakoff.
+ Jozette Prescott has been hired as a chief program and quality officer at the Smithtown-based Developmental Disabilities Institute. She was vice president of residential services at Services for the UnderServed in Manhattan.
+ Breanna James has been hired as a no-fault specialist at Melville-based The Odierno Law Firm. She was a document specialist at Williston Park- based Document Conversions.
+ Melville-based Island Harvest Food Bank has appointed two new Board of Directors members: Ross Turrini, New York chief gas operating officer at National Grid in Melville, and David Lyons, interim president and COO of PSEG Long Island in Uniondale.
+ Robert Sheppard has been elected to the Smithtown-based Developmental Disabilities Institute’s Board of Directors. He is director of accounting at Slomin’s Inc. in Hicksville.
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 the LIBDC). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD
Faux “Freedom”: Read those bills a little closer, church leaders warn.
Mind: Smart leaders understand the mentality of building trust.
Body: Here’s precisely what cardiologists eat and drink every day.
Soul: Why interdenominational church leaders oppose “religious freedom” bills.
All of the above: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Long Island Business Development Council, which has put its all into regional socioeconomics for more than five decades. Check them out.
