Slow down! Welcome to Friday, intrepid innovators, and not just any Friday but the first Friday of August.
Yes, the Summer of 2025 continues its frenetic pace, as we wrap up the workweek and speed into the season’s penultimate month. Things sure are happening fast – let’s slow it down a bit with this calm, cool and slightly comedic week-in-innovation review.
DIY pie: Move over, Marie Callender — we’re making our own today.
Not your parents’ holiday: Today is Aug. 1 and we’re kicking off the new month with International Childfree Day, created in 1973 by the National Organization for Non-Parents (now the National Alliance for Optional Parenthood) to support those who voluntarily choose not to procreate.
Dessert wine: No kids? Swell … you’re free to tie one on tonight! We suggest uncorking a dry Spanish white – a great choice on International Albariño Day, celebrating a white grape variety primarily grown in northwestern Spain’s Galicia region.
This also means more dessert for you – a sweet indulgence on Homemade Pie Day, eschewing Entenmann’s, shunning Mrs. Smith’s and honoring home-baked pastries, tarts and turnovers every Aug. 1.
Air (apparent): We can’t say for certain if he celebrated with wine or pie. But we do know that English chemist Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen on this date in 1774, using sunlight to isolate the gas in a glass tube. (Though he might not have been precisely the first to do it.)
The air up there: The air tends to be a little thinner in some of Colorado’s higher altitudes, and rather foul in general (thanks to rampant ozone pollution and occasional wildfire smoke). But it was a lot cleaner on Aug. 1, 1876, when the Centennial State became the 38th to join the Union.
Air pump: Now considered the gold standard of luxury-restaurant reviews, the Michelin Guide – a hotel and restaurant handbook published by French industrialists Édouard and André Michelin, who wanted to sell more automobile tires – became a thing 125 years ago today.
Signature move: Truman puts his Hancock on the Atomic Energy Act, giving nuclear research a civilian makeover.
Change in the air: President Harry Truman signed the Atomic Energy Act on this date in 1946, creating the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and, essentially, switching atomic research from military-controlled weapons development to civilian-controlled energy development.
Swinging through the air: And it was Aug. 1, 1962, when the one-and-only Spider-Man – arguably the most popular (and relatable) of all comic book heroes – debuted in Issue No. 15 of anthology series Amazing Fantasy.
But … was it really Aug. 1? While that is the recognized date, some comic historians note that Amazing Fantasy No. 15 probably didn’t hit the streets until later that month – while others suggest it likely began circulating as early as June of that year.
Call him Ishmael: Or “Melville,” as he was known to friends. Whatever you call him, Herman Melville (1819-1891) – the American novelist, short-story writer and poet remembered best for penning “Moby Dick,” the masterwork high-seas adventure/cautionary tale about the dangers of obsession – would be 206 years old today.
Rebel without a pause: Chuck D put big brains behind his brawny lyrics.
Also born on Aug. 1 were American lawyer, author and amateur poet Francis Scott Key (1779-1843), who witnessed the 1814 British bombardment of Maryland’s Fort McHenry and thought it made for a fine exposition of American ideology; American astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), remembered as America’s first woman astronomer; Irish American schoolteacher and dressmaker Mary Harris “Mother” Jones (1837-1930), an unrivaled champion of organized labor; Russian biologist Ilya Ivanov (1870-1932), who spearheaded the artificial insemination and hybrid breeding of domesticated animals; and American actor, comedian, director, producer, author, chef and musician Dominick “Dom” DeLuise (1933-2009), an energetic and surprisingly diverse performer.
Prophet of Rage: And take a bow, Carlton Douglas Ridenhour! The American rapper, author and music producer – known best as Chuck D, cofounder and frontman of groundbreaking hip hop group Public Enemy – turns 65 today.
Give the intelligent instigator and vicious vocalizer your best at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips help us Bring the Noise and we Watch Channel Zero without your calendar events. (Fight the Power!)
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Viva vagus! The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first vagus-nerve bioimplant for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Announced Thursday, the approval marks a quantum leap for 1.5 million U.S. rheumatoid arthritis patients and millions more around the globe. Based on research by “Father of Bioelectronic Medicine” Kevin Tracey, the president and CEO of Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and author of “The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes” (Avery Publishing, 2025), the electrical stimulation of the body’s natural healing processes via a jelly bean-sized implant in the patient’s neck offers a welcome alternative to conventional, potentially harmful RA drugs.
The FDA specifically greenlighted the “neuroimmune modulation therapy” offered by California-based biotech SetPoint Medical, which plans to introduce the technology in “targeted” locations this year and widen distribution in 2026. “The approval … represents a transformative milestone in the management of autoimmune diseases,” noted SetPoint Medical CEO Murthy Simhambhatla. “We are committed to improving the health of people living with RA and look forward to working with providers and payers to make our innovative therapy accessible to their patients.”
CATs cradle: With two Centers for Advanced Technology on campus, Stony Brook University has become an epicenter of scientific progress, according to Vice President for Research and Innovation Kevin Gardner.
GrIDDing ear-to-ear: A rechristened Stony Brook University research center has earned a prestigious New York State redesignation.
Stony Brook’s Center for Advanced Technology in Grid Innovation Development and Deployment has been officially designated a New York State Center for Advanced Technology by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation, an honor previously bestowed upon the university’s Center for Integrated Electric Energy Systems, which GrIDD succeeded in June. With 15 total Centers for Advanced Technology recognized by NYSTAR this round, the designation of the GrIDD and redesignation of SBU’s Center for Biotechnology make Stony Brook the only statewide institution currently hosting two CATs.
That’s “a testament to Stony Brook University’s unwavering commitment to pioneering research that directly fuels economic growth and workforce development,” according to SBU Vice President for Research and Innovation Kevin Gardner. “These centers are crucial in translating groundbreaking discoveries into real-world solutions, from advancing lifesaving biotechnologies to building a more resilient and sustainable energy future,” the vice president added. “We’re incredibly proud to be the only institution in the state to receive dual CAT designations, solidifying our leadership in vital innovation ecosystems.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Keeping an AI on the future: Balanced regulations are critical to artificial intelligence’s safe and efficient evolution – but Albany’s overly restrictive RAISE Act risks New York’s standing as a top technology hub, according to former State Assemblyman Marc Alessi.
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ICYMI
A new “sensory unit” in Farmingdale State College’s Dental Hygiene Care Center drills down on patients with sensory-processing disorders – and the future dentists who will treat them.
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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 California: Los Angeles-based body pain-pioneer Prone Labs flips the script for stomach-sleepers with pillows specially designed to enhance comfort and sleep quality.
From North Carolina: Burlington-based laboratory-services leader Labcorp simplifies providers’ lab-test choices with generative AI-powered selection tool.
From Texas: Dallas-based tortilla titan Velvet Taco seeks next bold, globally inspired taco sensation with fourth-annual WTF Recipe Contest.
ON THE MOVE
Joseph Manopella
+ Joseph Manopella has been named the new president of Catholic Health’s St. Joseph Hospital in Bethpage. The former Northwell Health executive will continue to serve as president of Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre.
+ The Nassau County Bar Association has installed its new slate of annual officers:
- James Joseph has been installed as president. He is managing partner of the Joseph Law Group in Garden City.
- The Hon. Maxine Broderick has been installed as president-elect. She is a judge at the Nassau District Court.
- Samuel Ferrara has been installed as vice president. He is chairman of the Family and Matrimonial Law Department at New York City-based Meister Seelig & Fein.
- Deanne Caputo has been installed as treasurer. She is an attorney at Sullivan Papain Block McManus Coffinas & Cannavo in Garden City.
- Ira Slavit has been installed as secretary. He is a partner at Levine & Slavit in Mineola.
+ Albert DiMeo has been promoted to chairman of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at Port Washington-based St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center. He was vice chairman of cardiothoracic surgery.
+ Abhishek Gupta has been hired as an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist at HSS Long Island in Uniondale. He was an anesthesiologist at Stony Brook University Hospital.
+ Kevin McCarthy has been hired as sales director at Melville-based Didit. He held the same position at Connecticut-based Paragon Intel.
+ Melville-based H2M architects + engineers has hired three recent graduates for staff engineer 1 positions:
- Jon Lin – Drexel University
- Hayden Maitra – Binghamton University
- Machlin Fellman – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
+ Stephen Fuoco has been appointed to the Village of Patchogue’s Board of Trustees. He is senior vice president at Bradley & Parker in Melville.
+ Kari Von Voigt has been hired as assistant principal of the Eastport-South Manor Junior-Senior High School in Manorville. She was a secondary math teacher at Bayport-Blue Point High School in Bayport.
+ Daniel Dornfeld has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Stony Brook University Real Estate Institute. He is a partner in the Real Estate, Corporate, Cannabis and IDA Benefits and Government Incentives practice groups at Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana.
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BELOW THE FOLD (Massive Russian Earthquake Edition)
Wave machine: Though their size and duration vary, tsunamis are most often created by underwater earthquakes.
Fire world: Three-quarters of Earth’s active volcanoes, 90 percent of the world’s temblors – welcome to the Ring of Fire.
Rumble world: Think Russia’s Kamchatka earthquake was big? Hold on to something.
Water world: How tsunamis are created – and how to survive them.
All-world: Please continue supporting the outstanding organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, where unparalleled business-development and land-use knowledge create an unbeatable ally for enterprises of all sizes. Check them out.
