Tuckered out: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we tune out the TV-news drama and tune up regional socioeconomics with another nifty innovation review.
As always, you give us about five minutes, we’ll give you the world (of innovation, that is). And the more we can talk about that, the less we have to hear about who said what at which one-sided network – a welcomed relief for sure.
Better safe: It’s April 26 out there, and we’re hurdling the hump on World Intellectual Property Day, an Innovate Long Island favorite celebrating IP protection in all its myriad forms.
Speaking of critical protections of our most valuable assets, give it up for Administrative Professionals Day, an annual celebration of the gear-grinding backbones behind every successful enterprise.
But you wouldn’t want to live there: Welcome to LV-426, we hope you enjoy your stay.
Go for a dip: Cheese? Honey mustard? That crunchy cinnamon-spread stuff from Philly Pretzel Factory? You really can’t miss on National Pretzel Day, a snacker’s delight always fresh from the oven on April 26.
Also twisting logic today is National “Alien” Day, not a salute to extraterrestrial beings, exactly, but an homage to darksome planet LV-426, where everything goes wrong in Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic “Alien.” (Always creeping around on 4/26, see?)
Tele us all about it: Other science fiction (at the time, at least) associated with this date includes email, first suggested in a New York Times article proposing “electric postal telegraphs” way back on April 26, 1884.
Smooth operator: Also looking ahead was African American inventor Sarah Boone, who patented the modern ironing board – with curved ends for smoothing out sleeves – on this date in 1892.
Keys to the game: Organ music at professional baseball games became a thing on April 26, 1941, when the instrument was piped through Wrigley Field during a Chicago Cubs game.
Disco inferno: Studio 54 was a hot ticket, back in the day.
Making the scene: There were definitely some electronic organs in the mix when iconic nightclub Studio 54 opened in New York City 46 years ago tonight.
It matters: And scientists certainly got down and boogied at the Fermilab in Illinois on this date in 1994, after announcing irrefutable evidence of the “top quark,” an elusive subatomic particle long sought by determined researchers.
The discovery marked the last piece of the puzzle in modern science’s understanding of the basic composition of matter.
Shake, rattle and roll: American seismologist and physicist Charles Francis Richter (1900-1985) – who famously quantified earthquakes with his namesake scaling system – would be 123 years old today.
Breaking bad: Burnett (second from left) and her “The Carol Burnett Show” castmates often lost their composure mid-skit.
Also born on April 26 were American ornithologist John James Audubon (1785-1851), truly one for the birds; American landscape architect Frederick Olmsted (1822-1903), the newspaperman and farmer who designed Central Park; British aircraft designer Sir Alliott Verdon Roe (1877-1958), the first Englishman to build and fly his own plane; British geneticist Dame Anne McLaren (1927-2007), a leading figure of developmental biology; and American actress, comedienne, singer and writer Carol Burnett (born 1933), a true television pioneer (and damned funny one, too).
Model behavior: And take a bow, Melania Trump! The Slovenian American model, former United States First Lady and current wife of Donald Trump turns 53 today.
Wish Baron’s mom well at editor@innovateli.com, where we see the most beauty in truth and justice (and in your news tips and calendar events, of course).
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Inequity inquisition: A scathing ERASE Racism report gives Albany an F for a decade of racially based school-funding disparities – and erases a chalkboard’s worth of nonsensical ethnic myths.
Tracking statewide, district-level disparities between 2011 and 2021, “Empire State Inequity: A Decade of School Funding Disparity and Its Effects” reaches several troubling conclusions, all detailed in an interactive, data-rich breakdown. Among the most glaring: State and federal funding has disproportionately benefited districts that are 91 to 100 percent White, Intensely Segregated Students of Color Districts have the lowest per-pupil expenditures, and those expenditures are declining faster in IS-SOC Districts than elsewhere.
The 501(c)3 watchdog’s report – which handily refutes racist theories that blame underperforming districts on lower local tax revenues (IS-SOC districts pay the highest tax rates) and underperforming students on lesser natural abilities (students of color perform just fine in wealthier districts) – is particularly relevant on Long Island, where Nassau has more IS-SOC districts (seven) than any other NYS county (Suffolk has four). “It’s important that these racially fueled myths have been refuted,” noted ERASE Racism President Laura Harding. “What this research shows is that, given the right resources, all students can succeed.”
Pleasure doing business: Sands Corp. Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer Norbert Riezler leads the “procurement academy.”
Being neighborly: The hotelier staking a $4 billion resort casino in Nassau has made several hundred new friends.
Sands Las Vegas spinoff Sands New York and the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce hosted an April 20 “procurement academy” at Nassau Community College, welcoming 300 regional small-business owners and “prospective vendors.” Headlined by Sands Chief Procurement Officer Norbert Riezler, the academy gave regional mom-and-pops the skinny on the eventual rise of a world-class resort destination on the current Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum site – including details on securing vendor contracts with the renowned landlord.
The academy – held the same week Hofstra University filed a legal motion challenging the Nassau County Planning Commission over the Sands proposal, among scattered local resistance to the multibillion-dollar plan – was attended primarily by representatives of Long Island chambers of commerce and Small Business Development Centers. “I’ve been really impressed with Sands’ ability to understand the challenges that small businesses face when a big project like theirs comes to town,” noted Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce Deputy Director Elizabeth Wellington. “The Procurement Academy provided a lot of useful tools and resources … we can hit the ground running when approvals are issued.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 32: Kevin Tracey, bioelectronic father figure.
We’re counting down to Season 4 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast by counting up all of the amazing conversations from Seasons 1-3, featuring three dozen inventive and engaging leaders from across the regional innovation economy. New episodes streaming soon … with so much greatness already in the can!
TOP OF THE SITE
Windfall: A local developer’s record $200 million-plus construction contract marks a quantum leap toward Long Island’s offshore wind-powered future.
Anchor away: Stony Brook University will hit the road to anchor an advanced climate-solutions center on Governor’s Island in New York Harbor.
That was easy: Even we couldn’t believe how many “New Listings” we stuffed into Monday’s Calendar Newsletter, plus all that – what? You didn’t get it? Well, it is subscriber-only … luckily, there’s an always easy, always free solution.
VOICES
Fast-lane essays on EV infrastructure, regional homelessness, social media influence, Melville master plans, the promising future of electroceuticals and dozens of other frontline issues driving the innovation economy – straight from the drivers themselves. Jump into our amazing Voices library and take the wheel.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Painful lesson: The FAA has grounded SpaceX’s ambitious Starship after its explosive test-flight failure. Futurism surveys the damage.
Skim lessons: An ex-cybercriminal shares the techno-secrets of next-gen “card-skimming.” CBS News skims off the top.
Lessons unlearned: Bed, Bath & Beyond missed all the signs en route to Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Slate turns down the bed.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ VoltServer, a Rhode Island-based provider of a new electricity-distribution format, raised $17.5 million in Series B funding led by Marker Hill Capital, Constellation Technology Ventures, the Southwire Company, RightHill Ventures and Clean Energy Venture Group.
+ Cortica, a California-based, physician-led autism-services company, raised $75 million in funding led by Deerfield Management and Optum Ventures.
+ Ebb Carbon, a California-based, ocean-based carbon dioxide-removal innovator, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Prelude Ventures, Evok Innovation, Congruent, Grantham and Incite.
+ Xenocor, a Utah-based medical device manufacturer, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by GenHenn Venture Fund I, Baranco Investments, Barvest Ventures and Patel Family Investments.
+ SpecterOps, a Washington State-based cybersecurity services provider, raised $25 million in Series A funding led by Decibel, Kevin Mandia, Jon Oberheide and Dug Song.
+ Cure Hydration, a New York City-based functional hydration pioneer, raised $5.6 million in Series A funding led by Lerer Hippeau, with participation from Valedor Partners, Simple Food Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Joyance Partners, Silas Capital and Kim Clijsters.
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 Sahn Ward). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Seasonal Allergy Edition)
Red alert: The number of days in the average ragweed season now (left) and at the end of this century, with current carbon-dioxide emissions unchanged.
Old dog, new sick: Why adult-onset allergies are on the rise.
Please don’t blame the daisies: Actually, your bedding may be at fault.
Seeing it coming: Pollen is getting worse, but forecasting it is getting easier.
A firm for all seasons: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Sahn Ward, which brings seasoned smarts and unparalleled experience to every land-use case – winter, spring, summer and fall. Check them out.
