Bright ideas: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we roll through another busy – and much sunnier – workweek.
It’s Feb. 21 out there, the days are growing longer and, here on Long Island, the air carries a hint of that early Spring we’ve been promised. Here’s a breezy innovation review to help you over the hump and ease you toward Winter’s end (just four weeks to go!).
Sticky situation: We’ll take the grains, thanks, on National Sticky Bun Day.
Tongue tied: We begin with International Mother Language Day, an annual UN celebration of both multilingual education and – as cultures continually mix in the world’s melting pot – the enduring importance of learning your native tongue.
Can’t have one without the other: Speaking of tying and mixing, good luck separating National Sticky Bun Day (a yearly salute to the rolled, frosted pastries) and National Grain-Free Day (eschewing foods made with wheat, corn or rice, including sticky buns made with flour, which is commonly milled from wheat, corn, rye, semolina and other grains), both observed on Feb. 21.
A stitch in time: Separating the wheat from the chaff, metaphorically, was Washington-based inventor John Greenough, who earned the first U.S. sewing machine patent on this date in 1842.
Madame DDS: Other creams of the crop associated with this date include American Lucy Hobbs Taylor, who became the first woman in the world to earn a doctor of dental surgery degree on Feb. 21, 1866.
Cover story: The New Yorker set a new tone with Vol. 1, Issue 1.
Before Yellow Pages, White Pages or little black books: The pages of history dialed up some innovation on this date in 1878, when the world’s first telephone directory was published in New Haven, Conn. (For the record, the directory included 50 telephone subscribers, all listed on a single page.)
Popular, culturally: On the topic of historical pages, the first pop-culture-rich issue of The New Yorker magazine was published 99 years ago today.
Liquor license: And tracing its history to Prohibition-era bootleggers, NASCAR started its engines on Feb. 21, 1948, in Florida.
According to legend, the original points system for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was, fittingly, calculated on a cocktail napkin.
Napolean of the West: Mexican soldier and dictator Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (1794-1876) – known best as Santa Anna, a brutal and militaristic leader who was Mexico’s most dominant historical figure over the first half of the 19th Century – would be 230 years old today.
Fighting spirit: Simone supported Malcolm X’s calls to violently resist oppression.
Also born on Feb. 21 were French Canadian explorer and surveyor Édouard Gaston Deville (1849-1924), who perfected photogrammetry (the making of maps based on photography); American psychiatrist Hebert “Harry” Stack Sullivan (1892-1949), a neo-Freud psychoanalyst big into interpersonal relationships; American humorist Erma Bombeck (1927-1996), a wildly popular syndicated newspaper columnist and author of several bestselling books; American singer, songwriter, pianist and composer Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, 1933-2003), the “high priestess of soul” and a noted civil rights activist; and English actor Alan Rickman (1946-2016), a Royal Shakespeare Company veteran who embodied the classic Hollywood villain.
Here we go again: And take a bow, Anthony Daniels! The English actor and mime artist – the only performer to appear in all 11 “Star Wars” feature films (mostly as fussy robot C-3PO, but not exclusively), in addition to multiple “Star Wars” TV series and multimedia spinoffs – turns 78 today.
Wish everyone’s favorite protocol droid well at editor@innovateli.com, where the Force is with your news tips and we love to list your calendar events, even when they’re in a galaxy far, far away.
About our sponsor: SUNY Old Westbury empowers students to own the future they want for themselves. In a small-college atmosphere and as part of a dynamic, diverse student body that today is 5,000 strong, Old Westbury students get up close and personal with the life and career they want to pursue. Whether it’s a cutting-edge graduate program in data analytics, highly respected programs in accounting and computer information sciences or any of the more than 70 degrees available, a SUNY Old Westbury education will set students on a course toward success. Own your future.
BUT FIRST, THIS
New look, same great taste: The torch has been passed at East End Food.
With Executive Director Kate Fullam becoming leader of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Food Systems Team, the Southampton-based nonprofit formerly known as the East End Food Institute (a 2019 rebrand from the original Amagansett Food Institute) has named Associate Director Bob Hatton interim executive director. The busy bureau – on a mission to fight food insecurity and promote sustainable food systems by connecting local farmers and other producers with community members – has also promoted Outreach and Education Manager Miranda Capriotti to development director.
East End Food will conduct a search for a permanent exec to succeed Fullam, who served six years as the organization’s executive director and currently sits on both the Southampton Town Planning Board and the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council. “Our supporters are a special group of people who understand the value of a sustainable and equitable regional food system,” Fullam said in a statement. “It has been an honor to serve this community, and we cannot do this great work without your support.”
Pearls of wisdom: Supporting healthy oyster farms is economically and ecologically wise, according to The Nature Conservancy.
Same great taste, new support: The next time you’re enjoying a plate of locally sourced fried oysters, tip your oyster fork to The Nature Conservancy.
The Virginia-based global environmental organization has announced the latest funding tranche through its Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program, with a total of $898,000 awarded to farmer-led projects across 18 coastal states. Included in the round were four Suffolk County operations: the Lindenhurst-based Neguntatogue Project, Southold-based Southold Bay Oysters, Moriches Bay-based Violet Cove Oyster Co. and New Suffolk-based Peeko Oysters, with bolstered seed supplies, enhanced microalgae production and the introduction of sugar kelp to local biomes – great for water quality and storm-surge protection – among the targeted efforts.
Including the Long Island awards, SOAR backed 47 different farms and projects this round through its Shellfish Growers Resiliency Fund, which aims to create a stronger and more sustainable U.S. shellfish industry. “In addition to providing an important source of jobs and food, responsibly managed shellfish farms also benefit the environment by filtering water, creating wildlife habitat and contributing to wild oyster-reef restoration,” noted Nature Conservancy Senior Marine Restoration Scientist Boze Hancock.
TOP OF THE SITE
Fight fund: The National Institutes of Health is giving a Feinstein Institutes scientist $3.1 million to continue his battle against schizophrenia, autism and other deadly neuropsychiatric disorders.
Simply amazing: Lawyers and lawmakers, inventors and investors, scientists and social workers, playmakers and music-makers … only the brightest Long Island innovators share their perspectives and perceptions on “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast.” Season 5 now in production – Seasons 1-4 waiting to amaze you.
VOICES
With deepfake content infiltrating mainstream news and politics, ZE Creative Communications Executive Vice President and Voices Media Anchor David Chauvin issues an immediate call to action for regulators, corporations and consumers to do something about it.
STUFF WE’RE READING
The Martians: The 10th annual European Rover Challenge sends leading roboticists to the Red Planet. Innovation News Network blasts off.
Star treks: A former Disney child star is teaming with Lockheed Martin veterans on a data highway in space. HuffPost boldly goes.
Bach to the future: Physicists discover hidden genius in Johann Sebastian’s music. Scientific American time trips.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Dapple Security, a Colorado-based digital-security platform, raised $2.3 million in pre-seed funding led by First In, Access Ventures and Techstars.
+ Rogo, a New York City-based generative AI platform for financial institutions, raised $7 million in seed funding led by AlleyCorp, Company Ventures, BoxGroup and ScOp Ventures.
+ Celadyne, an Illinois-based decarbonization and hydrogen solutions provider, raised $4.5 million in seed funding led by Maniv, Dynamo Ventures and EPS Ventures.
+ Sage Geosystems, a Texas-based Geopressured Geothermal System technology pioneer, raised $17 million in Series A funding led by Chesapeake Energy Corp., Arch Meredith and Helium-3 Ventures.
+ Lilac Solutions, a California-based lithium-extraction innovator, raised $145 million in Series C funding led by Mercuria, Lowercarbon Capital and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
+ Boat Planet, a Missouri-based boat-repair and maintenance marketplace, raised $1.2 million in seed funding led by 46VC, Ascend Venture Capital and Quad 2 Capital.
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 SUNY Old Westbury). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Artistic Expression Edition)
New appreciation: Don’t just LOOK AT art … SEE it.
Open interpretation: How to look at art – and actually see it.
Identify deft: The art and science of determining demographics.
AI of the beholder: Class action suit pits artists vs. artificial intelligence.
Drawing on experience: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including SUNY Old Westbury, where every customized path to academic and professional excellence is a work of art. Check them out.
