Channel 13: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, and not just any Friday but the first of two consecutive Friday the 13ths (there’s another in March) and three in 2026 (one more in November), if that’s any concern.
Fright night: All right … that’s a little scary.
It shouldn’t be. Friggatriskaidekaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th, stems from ancient Norse mythology with a fairly non-terrifying origin story (something about Loki crashing a banquet). In truth, the day/date combination boasts no more supernatural mojo than Tuesday the 13th, which triggers superstitious fears across Greek, Spanish and Latin American cultures (a.k.a. trezidavomartiophobia) – and you’ve never even heard of that one.
Nothing to fear, but…: If anything’s going to concern you, it should be that your favorite innovation-news network is taking a quick Winter recess Feb. 16-20 – so no Innovate Long Island newsletters next Monday, Wednesday or Friday.
But don’t worry too much … we’ll be back Feb. 23 with your regularly scheduled Monday Calendar Newsletter. Stay strong, fearless innovators.
BFFs: Back here on Feb. 13, we’re supporting each other through Friday the 13th and all kinds of other difficulties on Galentine’s Day, the “ovaries over brovaries” holiday for single women invented on the sitcom “Parks and Recreation.” (Not quite the lesbian lovefest you might envision, bro, but a pre-Valentine’s Day celebration of platonic female friendships.)
Single men can pivot to National Wingman Day, where the spotlight shines on loyal friends who always have your back – especially when you’re cranking up the courage to approach that clearly-out-of-your-league lady at the bar (leading indirectly to International Condom Day, another pre-Valentine’s favorite always unwrapped on Feb. 13).
Reel innovation: Speaking of tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day holiday, we say a romantic movie date night is just the ticket – and a swell nod to brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière, who earned a French patent on this date in 1895 for the cinématographe, the first practical movie projector.
Take the local: Also feeling no pain was German chemist Alfred Einhorn, who earned a U.S. patent for his process for synthesizing procaine – you know it, gratefully, as local anesthetic Novocain – on Feb. 13, 1906.
Actually, it DOES compute: The ENIAC went where no machine had gone before.
Take the express: Speeding things up quite a bit was the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, the 30-ton quantum leap known best as ENIAC – the world’s first programmable, all-electronic computer, which made its public debut on this date in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania.
Rock me, Frank Sinatra: Also making sweet music was record label Reprise Records, founded 65 years ago today by Chairman of the Board Frank Sinatra. (A very big deal for the Classic Rock genre, as it turned out.)
Spill it: And it was Feb. 13, 1997, when a huge ocean storm near the coast of Cornwall pushed 62 cargo containers off the German-registered cargo ship Tokio Express – including one container carrying nearly 5 million Lego pieces.
In a coincidence of oceanic proportions, many of the loose pieces were destined for seafaring Lego sets – including miniaturized seaweed, life jackets, flippers and other nautical pieces that continue to wash up on beaches across Europe to this day.
Requiem for Malthusianism: Influential English economist and demographer Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) – the Father of Malthusianism, which warns that without reproduction limits, thriving populations will always outgrow their food sources – would be 260 years old today.
Austin limits: Denise is still leading loyal followers through their daily workout routines.
Also born on Feb. 13 were American First Lady Elizabeth Virginia “Bess” Truman (1885-1982), whose 97 years and 247 days rank her as the longest-living First Lady (so far); American chemist Alfred Wolf (1923-1988), a positron emission tomography pioneer who excelled at Brookhaven National Laboratory; U.S. Air Force officer and daring test pilot Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager (1923-2020), the World War II flying ace who became the first to break the sound barrier in level flight; British American politician, lawyer, actor and broadcast journalist Gerald Norman “Jerry” Springer (1944-2023), the one-time mayor of Cincinnati and all-time king of tabloid talk shows; and American fitness instructor, author and columnist Denise Austin (born 1957), a former member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Big Time: And take a bow, Peter Brian Gabriel! The English singer, songwriter, musician and human-rights activist – who gained fame as the frontman of progressive-rock pioneers Genesis before launching his Grammy-winning solo career – turns 76 today.
Send birthday wishes for the superstar singer to Solsbury Hill – or better yet, send them to editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips land like a Sledgehammer and I We Can’t Dance without your calendar events.
About our sponsor: Located in Old Bethpage, the Museum of American Armor chronicles our shared heritage of America’s defense of freedom and the nation’s legacy of military technology. Start your adventure through history right here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Science has spoken: And the RSV vaccines work, according to Northwell Health Senior Vice President Annemarie Stroustrup.
Vaccination celebration: Healthcare experts are crediting important progress over a nefarious viral enemy to new vaccination efforts.
Respiratory syncytial virus – which causes lung and respiratory infections – is still the nation’s leading cause of infant hospitalizations, but it’s steadily retreating from Northwell Health emergency rooms. According to the health system, New Hyde Park-based Cohen Children’s Medical Center recorded fewer than 50 RSV-related hospitalizations in November and December 2025, down from nearly 300 per month over the same months in 2024.
Insiders credit new preventative medicines approved in 2023 (for high-risk children) and 2024 (for other demographics) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including a vaccine for pregnant women, monoclonal antibodies for babies – the highest RSV risk group – and a vaccine for patients ages 50 and up. “This year, we … offered the vaccine to pregnant women and the monoclonal antibody to any baby of a mom who was not vaccinated,” noted Annemarie Stroustrup, Northwell Health’s senior vice president of pediatric services. “The result is what we’re seeing – there’s not a lot of RSV. The science is strong. The vaccine is very low risk and really effective at keeping children out of the hospital.”
Big brains: Two superstars of Long Island science and academia have earned prestigious national honors.
Kevin Tracey, president and CEO of Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, is among the innovators gracing the 2026 TIME100 Health list, Time magazine’s careful annual curation of global health influencers. The Father of Bioelectronic Medicine was spotlighted for decades of pioneering discovery and research, including identification of the inflammatory reflex and his revolutionary work on the vagus nerve – leading to the development of the first vagus-stimulation device for rheumatoid arthritis, approved by the FDA in 2025.
Insight Into Academia magazine, meanwhile, his conferred a 2026 Trailblazer in Higher Education Award on Molloy University President James Lentini, who since taking the reins of the Rockville Centre cornerstone in 2020 has overseen record-high enrollment, earned Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement and Hispanic Serving Institution nods and transitioned Molloy from a college to university, while doubling the school’s endowment. “We believe the future of higher education depends on leaders who are willing to challenge convention and embrace bold, impactful innovation,” noted Insight Into Academia Publisher Lenore Pearlstein. “[The honorees] represent the highest levels of strategic leadership in the field.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Hoping against hope: The HIA-LI’s 2026 Long Island Economic Survey is not all doom and gloom – some business owners are even talking expansion – but confidence in the regional business environment is definitely waning.
Why wait? Don’t miss us too much – that next Monday Calendar Newsletter will be in your inbox before you know it. Of course, non-subscribers won’t see a new newsletter posted on our website until Feb. 25, but that’s silly, since our e-blast subscriptions are always easy, easy free.
ICYMI
For economic and ecologic reasons, local government, regional transportation and national recycling leaders are all-in on increasing Long Island’s rail-freight capacity.
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 Illinois: Chicago-based privileged-access prince Keeper Security serves and protects Keeper Vault power users with zero trust/zero knowledge SuperShell interface.
From Pennsylvania: Quakertown-based dental-imaging dynamo DEXIS refocuses digital dentistry with artificial intelligence-powered imaging and connectivity platform.
From Texas: Coppell-based sensitive baby-care/adult body-scrub baron Splash fills in the gaps with age-appropriate body and hair care geared toward children.
ON THE MOVE
Zain Rahman
+ Zain Rahman has been promoted to wealth advisor at United Capital Financial Advisors in Bethpage. He was a relationship manager.
+ Deer Park-based United Way of Long Island has announced new leadership for its Board of Directors:
- Aaron Choo has been elected board chairman. A UWLI board member since 2022, he is vice president of National Grid’s downstate New York gas field operations and programs.
- Jaime Stojanowski has been elected as chairwoman-elect. A UWLI board member since 2024, she is the Northeast Consumer Division executive for Bank of America.
+ Paul King has been hired as forensics practice leader at H2M architects + engineers in Melville. He was a senior forensic engineer at The Vertex Companies in Manhattan.
+ Deer Park-based United Way of Long Island has welcomed six new members to its Board of Directors:
- Brian Beedenbenderis vice president of sales at Huntington Station-based Teq.
- Seema Bhansali is the principal owner of Melville-based EvolvEQ Strategies.
- Kishore Kuncham is the former superintendent of Freeport Public Schools.
- Sandra Lindsay is the vice president of public health advocacy at Northwell Health.
- Rick Reustle is executive vice president and retail market manager for Buffalo-based M&T Bank.
- Stacey Sikes is vice president of government affairs and communications for the Melville-based Long Island Association.
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 the Museum of American Armor). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Valentine’s Day Edition)
Thorny: Roses are lovely, but are they worth the cost?
Red flag: Sorry, but those roses – dipped in chemicals, wrapped in plastic, flown and trucked to your florist – are really bad for the planet.
We heart Aristotle: And the ancient Greek philosopher – a big fan of love – would have hated Valentine’s Day.
What’s love got to do with it? Plenty, when choosing virtue over hatred.
Gotta love it: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the Museum of American Armor – not just a darling of WWII buffs, but a blood-pumping time trip that’s all heart. Check them out.
