Just the tax, ma’am: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and please let issue No. 1040 of your favorite innovation newsletter serve as a gentle reminder to get cracking on those Form 1040s.
Yes, just one month to go until the dreaded filing deadline on those individual income tax returns (April 15, officially) – and just a handful of days until the bell tolls for your business-tax filings (March 15, yikes).
It’s-a World Plumbing Day: And yes, our gratitude extends to videogame icon Mario.
Fluid situation: For those who put the “pro” in “procrastination,” none of that is concerning in the slightest. And so, here on March 11, we hurdle this latest workweek hump with a clear conscience – and clear pipes, thanks largely to the champions of fluid dynamics who shine brightest on World Plumbing Day, highlighting vital contributions to public health and environmental sustainability.
Other professionals taking a bow today include the menu masters of Registered Dietician Nutritionist Day (keeping our personal plumbing in the flow) and the end-of-life experts of National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day (essential, alas, when the personal plumbing is kaput).
Healthy serving: To keep your nutritionist happy (and forestall your funeral), you’ll want to eat right – thank goodness it’s National Johnny Appleseed Day (spotlighting the whole apple-a-day thing, with a tip of the tin-pot hat to John Chapman), National Sofrito Day (celebrating the veggie-heavy Latin-cuisine staple) and National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day (about as healthful as waffles get), all served on March 11.
Paper war: You might want to write down your menu plan, so grab a pen and paper, with a nod to inventor Tsai Lun, who on this date in 105 A.D. showed Chinese Emperor Han Ho Ti his bamboo and mulberry pulp stretched over a bamboo frame – the first recorded example of paper. (For the record, many historians think Chinese innovators likely invented paper two centuries earlier).
What, no funnies?: And no photos, either, when London’s Daily Courant debuted 324 years ago today.
War stories: Speaking of paper, the first English language daily newspaper – the one-sheet Daily Courant – was published in England on March 11, 1702. (Top stories: troop movements and political intrigue surrounding the burgeoning War of the Spanish Succession.)
Bidding war: Also making news was the first-ever Sotheby’s auction, presided over by bookseller/entrepreneur/Sotheby’s Auction House founder Samuel Baker. (On the block: “Scarce and valuable books in all branches of polite literature.”)
War footing: From bidding wars to the U.S. Department of War – not the half-cocked rebranding of the current U.S. Department of Defense, but the actual 18th/19th Century department that, among other things, created the Bureau of Indian Affairs 202 years ago today. (Since 1947, the BIA has been under the auspices of the U.S. Department of the Interior).
Make hoops, not war: And it was March 11, 1892, when the sport of basketball debuted publicly at the YMCA in Springfield, Mass.
That introduction included a gripping contest between students and faculty, with the students ultimately prevailing 5-1. (It wasn’t precisely the same sport you know today.)
Thanks for all the fish: English author, humorist and screenwriter Douglas Adams (1952-2001) – whose penchant for hapless protagonists dealing with life’s absurdities shined brightest in his brilliant “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series – would be 72 years old today.
Music man: McFerrin needs no instruments to dazzle and delight.
Also born on March 11 were French astronomer, mathematician and teacher Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier (1811-1877), a celestial-mechanics specialist who mathematically predicted the existence of Neptune (but didn’t actually discover it); French chemist and geologist Henri-Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville (1818-1881), who invented the first practical process for mass-producing aluminum; American businesswoman Dorothy Schiff (1903-1989), a social services-focused socialite who promoted the Civil Rights movement and other liberal causes as the longtime owner and publisher of the New York Post; American chemist and inventor James Franklin Hyde (1903-1999), the “Father of Silicones;” and American computer scientist Joseph Licklider (1915-1990), a two-time ARPA director whose proposed “Intergalactic Computer Network” became the Internet.
Be happy: And take a bow, Robert Keith “Bobby” McFerrin Jr.! The American singer, songwriter, composer, conductor and educator – most famous for his unique vocal improvisations and joyous melodies – turns 76 today.
Send your best to the 10-time Grammy Award-winner at editor@innovateli.com, where we don’t worry – as long as you keep sending those news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Burman Real Estate is poised to revitalize key Long Island communities with thoughtful, relevant redevelopment projects. Current projects include Hicksville’s The Shops on Broadway, a reimagined shopping destination featuring a restaurant row with rooftop and central plaza event spaces; Mineola Downtown, a transit-oriented development; and a nine-story residential tower with direct access to the Mineola LIRR station.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Better by association: Matt Cohen’s run as Long Island Association president and CEO will end in June.
Presidential succession: One of Long Island’s busiest business boosters is preparing for a changing of the guard.
Long Island Association President and CEO Matt Cohen announced Monday that he will step down when his current term expires at the end of June. Cohen, who succeeded former LIA President Kevin Law in May 2021 after several years as the organization’s vice president of government affairs and communications, said he would “explore new opportunities” after his term ends, adding it has “been an honor to help advance Long Island’s economic growth, support our hardworking small businesses and create meaningful connections for business leaders across the region.”
Current Vice President for Government Affairs and Communications Stacey Sikes will serve as acting president and CEO while the LIA – which celebrates its centennial anniversary this year – conducts a search for a permanent replacement. “We thank Matt for his years of leadership and commitment to our organization and to Long Island,” LIA Board of Directors Chairman Larry Waldman said in a statement. “We are grateful for everything he has accomplished and look forward to following his continued success.”
Where there’s smoke…: Tens of thousands of American lives can be saved if society can mitigate climate change – and, by extension, reduce wildfire damages across North America.
That’s the word from the national team of scientists behind a comprehensive paper published in February in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Leveraging 28 global climate models and more than 700 possible future scenarios, researchers determined that keeping the global mean surface temperature at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Age (1850-1900) levels – temperatures currently projected to increase by 3 degrees C – would annually save 10,000-plus lives otherwise claimed by “climate-induced wildfire smoke.”
The paper – which also calculates the monetary damages of unchecked climate change, including hundreds of billions of dollars annually in health-related costs related specifically to wildfire smoke – illustrates a “very dangerous trend,” according to lead author Minghao Qiu, an assistant professor in Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. “But lives can be saved if we are able to mitigate climate change by limiting our greenhouse-gas emissions through various energy, transportation and climate policies,” Qiu added.
TOP OF THE SITE
Book ’em, Daniel Gale: A literacy-minded Long Island nonprofit and a leading regional real estate brokerage are turning pages (and turning heads) with a big-time book drive benefitting under-resourced communities.
What are you waiting for? An all-new season of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” kicks off next week! While you’re waiting, catch up on the five-dozen awesome episodes already in the can – brilliant thinkers, great conversations and loads of actionable intelligence straight from the innovation economy’s front lines, all waiting for you right now.
VOICES
The cutting-edge science of 3D imaging is always evolving – and many of its quantum leaps have occurred right here on Long Island, notes Voices Technology Anchor Brad Carlson, who traces the history of three-dimensional representations through automotive engineering, shipping logistics, dental sciences and beyond.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Cautious: Artificial intelligence can increase production – but also stifle innovation, if you’re not careful. Harvard Business Review avoids traps.
Ambitious: Eight Midwestern universities have joined forces on a progressive San Francisco innovation hub. Forbes goes west.
Conscientious: How customer feedback can drive innovation strategies – and why it should. Fast Co. pays attention.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Jazz, a New York City-based artificial intelligence-powered data-loss prevention platform, raised $61 million in combined Seed and Series A funding led by Glilot Capital Partners and Team8, with participation from Ten Eleven Ventures, Merlin Ventures, Encoded Ventures and MassMutual Ventures.
+ Lux Aeterna, a Colorado-based space-infrastructure pioneer focused on advanced spacecraft and reusable satellite platforms, raised $10 million in Seed funding led by Konvoy, with participation from Decisive Point, Cubit Capital, Wave Function, Space Capital, Dynamo Ventures and Channel 39.
+ PactFi, a New York City-based end-to-end operational private-credit platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding led by 7RIDGE Ecosystem Impact Fund, with participation from Vestigo Ventures.
+ Talvy, a Massachusetts-based video-first networking platform focused on creating professional profiles, raised $2 million in Seed funding led by Link Ventures.
+ Yourco, an Illinois-based two-way frontline employee communication platform, raised $6 million in Series A funding led by High Alpha.
+ Slide, a Connecticut-based, security-first business-continuity and disaster-recovery innovator, raised $70 million in Series B funding led by General Catalyst, with participation from Base10, Outsiders Fund, futurepresent, Vine Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, Benchstrength, Top Down Ventures and Connecticut Innovations.
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 – on Long Island, and soon, across New York State (just ask Burman RE). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (End Times Edition)
Final performance: Hollywood elite snark it up — as themselves, facing the apocalypse — in “This Is The End.”
Holy war: Lawmakers demand investigation into DoD’s Biblical “Armageddon” claims.
Coming soon: Nearly one-third of Americans expect the world to end in their lifetime.
Why so serious: Who says the end of the world can’t be funny?
Just getting started: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Burman RE, which always takes a thoughtful approach to building Long Island’s brightest future. Check them out.
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