Calm between the storms: Well done, intrepid innovators! You survived Long island’s heaviest snowstorm in years – and yeah, there’s another titanic winter storm brewing for this coming weekend, but we’re not gonna think about that right now.
Right now, we’re focusing on cutting-edge socioeconomics, starting with this handy-dandy midweek innovation review. So put down the shovel, at least for a little while, and let’s hurdle this wintry hump.
Berry good: Bananas work, so do strawberries, and we’ll never say no to chocolate chips — but there’s something classically awesome about blueberry pancakes.
Private matter: Today is Jan. 28 and we’re opening this electronic newsletter on lockdown – par for the course on Data Privacy Day, designed to raise awareness about ever-evolving digital dangers and promote best protection practices.
Hold your breath: Also music to our ears is National Kazoo Day, which falls on Jan. 28 or “whenever it is convenient to the kazooist,” according to late, great founder Willard Rahn, who created the holiday in 1983 at the Homewood Retirement Home in Maryland. (Remember, no blowing – that membranophone converts vibrations to sound.)
After jamming, let’s grab some breakfast – it’s also National Blueberry Pancake Day, and if that’s not on the menu at Homewood, there’s an IHOP right down the road.
For Pete’s sake: In Saint Petersburg (not the one in Florida), you’ll do better ordering blueberry blinchiki (a Russian breakfast staple) – and you’ll be very near the birthplace of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which formed on this date in 1724 (according to the old-style Russian calendar) on orders from Peter the Great. (The academy relocated to Moscow in 1934, for those keeping score.)
Another bright idea: Over in London, prestigious Pall Mall became the world’s first street illuminated by gaslight lamps on Jan. 28, 1807.
Jane Austen: No zombies.
The zombies came later: Also in London, “Pride and Prejudice” – British author Jane Austen’s epic exploration of love, manners and class warfare – was published on this date in 1813 (two centuries before the loosely based movie version with undead ghouls terrorizing the Bennet sisters).
Who you gonna call? Here in the States – in New Haven, Conn., to be precise – the first U.S. commercial telephone exchange went into service 148 years ago today, serving 21 customers with a single iron wire.
Brick by brick: And it wouldn’t be granted for four full years, but it was Jan. 28, 1958, when entrepreneur Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filed a Danish patent to lock up interlocking Lego bricks.
The imagination-inspiring construction toy has enjoyed unrivaled popularity over the last 70 years (even expanding into various media) – but the truth of its creation was shrouded in mystery for decades.
Thomas Edison, the next generation: Armenian American master innovator Luther George Simjian (1905-1997) – a relentless inventor and successful entrepreneur who piled up 200-plus patents and is credited with pioneering flight simulators, creating the first ATM, designing a self-focusing camera and significantly improving teleprompters, among other frontline creations – would be 121 years old today.
Abstract thought: Pollock, a leading abstract-expressionist, was a thinking-person’s artist.
Also born on Jan. 28 were Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer Auguste Piccard (1884-1962), known best for his record-breaking hydrogen balloon flights; Irish pacifist, prison reformer and crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971), who significantly advanced crystallography and X-ray science; American painter Paul Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), an adopted Long Islander and major figure of abstract expressionism; Indian physicist Raja Ramanna (1926-2004), who shaped India’s nuclear energy program; and Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim Helú (born 1940), the investor, philanthropist and Grupo Carso owner currently ranked as the world’s 17th richest person.
Alda in the family: And take a bow, Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo! The American actor, director, screenwriter, author, philanthropist and educator – known best as Alan Alda, the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winner turned Stony Brook University benefactor – turns 90 today.
Give the science-loving Hollywood icon your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our scientific method begins with your news tips – and your calendar events are always iconic.
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
In the flow: Albany is helping out on local water-infrastructure projects across the state — including sewer-focused work in Riverhead and Sag Harbor.
Solids gold: Eastern Long Island is soaking it up as Albany floats another big funding round toward statewide water-infrastructure projects.
The Environmental Facilities Corp. announced a fresh $288 million funding round Jan. 22, funneling funds to New York City from the Biden-era Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and to other state corners via New York’s Lead Infrastructure Forgiveness and Transformation grant program, which helps local communities tackle costly water- and sewer-infrastructure improvements. Included in the round was $16 million in interest-free financing for the construction of solids-processing facilities in the Town of Riverhead and a $2 million state grant for new residential sewers in the Village of Sag Harbor.
New York City absorbed the lion’s share of the funding round ($114 million in grants and financing for lead-service lines throughout Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx), while other sizeable stipends went to the City of Schenectady ($30 million to overhaul a key water-resource recovery facility) and the Buffalo Sewer Authority ($29.3 million for new sewer-overflow controls). “My administration is tackling water-quality issues head-on with strategic investments that will benefit New Yorkers for generations to come,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
Crash-avoidance course: An intensive week of study has prepared dozens of Long Island medical students for the trickiest twists of substance-use disorders.
Third-year students at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell participated Jan. 13-16 in Pain and Addiction Care Prevention Week – 26 educational hours designed to supercharge the preliminary substance-abuse instruction infused in their first two years of medical studies. Targeting federal training requirements for clinicians seeking DEA registrations, the PACE program offered deep insights on the relationship between pain and substance use, a topic “most healthcare professionals find uncomfortable, anxiety-inducing and difficult to address with patients,” according to the Zucker School.
By combining first-person perspectives (from people in recovery and their family members) with the latest multidisciplinary clinical practices, the program prioritized human connections, introduced pain-management alternatives and otherwise promoted harm reduction in an opioid-heavy world. “While opioids certainly have a place in medicine, historically doctors weren’t adequately trained in judicious prescribing practices,” noted Sandeep Kapoor, the Zucker School’s vice president of Emergency Medicine Addiction Services. “Ensuring the next generation of physicians are equipped to approach complex medical conditions like pain and substance-use disorders will undoubtedly drive … improvement to patient and community health.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Lead story: Marking a giant leap for cardiac surgeries, the world’s smallest implanted defibrillator lead is now in play at Northwell Health.
Take your pick: The civic entrepreneur? The up-and-coming filmmaker? The media watchdog? The legacy real-estate developer? The small-business champion? The accomplished judge? Which leading innovator will you choose – and what lessons will you learn? It’s up to you on Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast. Choose wisely.
VOICES
The science of beauty runs deep at The Estée Lauder Companies – much deeper than skin, according to Long Island Bio Executive Director and Voices History Anchor Tom Mariner, who evolves through the decades with the Long Island cosmetics cornerstone.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Holy innovation! Or unholy, as Pope Leo lays it down – digital innovation is fine, but human dignity comes first. The National Catholic Register spreads the word.
Ready? Shifting R&D dynamics, rapid tech pivots and other readiness challenges answered at the National Competitiveness Forum. Forbes tallies the takeaways.
AND they get to keep Greenland: The Novo Nordisk Foundation commits $860 million to Denmark’s BioInnovation Institute. Philanthropy News Digest applauds scientific investment.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Zocks, a California-based, privacy-first, artificial intelligence-powered financial-advisor platform, raised $45 million in Series B funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED Investors, with participation from Illuminate Financial, Motive Partners, Expanse Venture Partners, Entrée Capital and 14Peaks Capital.
+ Consio AI, a Canadian voice platform that automates phone-based engagements for e-commerce brands, raised $3.3 million in funding led by RTP Global, with participation from SaaStr Fund, Mu Ventures, the founders of Gorgias and industry operators from Ramp and Datadog.
+ Upwind Security, a California-based cloud-security platform, raised $250 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Picture Capital.
+ GlassPoint, a New York City-based solar-thermal decarbonization specialist, raised $20 million in funding led by New Investment Solutions, with participation from MIG Capital.
+ Listen Labs, a California-based, AI-powered customer research platform, raised $69 million in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Evantic, Sequoia Capital, Conviction and Pear VC.
+ Standard Nuclear, a Tennessee-based, reactor-agnostic producer of tri-structural isotopic nuclear fuel, raised $140 million in Series A funding led by Decisive Point, with participation from Chevron Technology Ventures, StepStone Group, XTX Ventures, Welara, Fundomo, Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners and Crucible 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 – on Long Island, and soon, across New York State (just ask Burman RE). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Paris Haute Couture Week Edition)
You look nice: But do you look as nice as a bejeweled Teyana Taylor?
Neutrality: Midi skirts? Sparkly jackets? Men’s fashion ain’t what it used to be.
After a fashion: What are the hottest celebrities wearing this year?
Who’s who: Crashing GQ’s Paris fashion after-party.
Looking sharp: Please continue supporting the forward-thinking firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Burman Real Estate, where attractive, smart and sustainable commercial and residential development is always in style. Check them out.
