No. 1043: Evil ETs, quantum entanglements, the debut of ‘Uncle Tom’ and plenty of other stories worth telling

 

Sprung: Welcome to Friday, intrepid innovators, and depending on what time you’re reading this, welcome to Spring!

Yes, after a Winter for the weather books here on Long Island and around the nation, the long-awaited vernal equinox clicks (or clicked) at precisely 7:46 a.m. today here in our beautiful Eastern Time Zone – the precise moment our lovely Northern Hemisphere transitioned from pointing away from the Sun to pointing toward it.

Have we got a story to tell you: You’d never know it from the weather – baby, it’s still cold outside – but warmer days are on the way. And so is a well-earned weekend, after we work our way through this busy March 20, starting with this snappy review of innovation-centered stories.

Sensing a theme, we open with World Storytelling Day, celebrating the art of combining words, pictures, signs, songs, sounds and/or expressions into a cohesive narrative – hopefully an educational and entertaining one, too.

Don’t probe me, be happy: More scary than entertaining is Alien Abduction Day, spotlighting creepy tales of extraterrestrial felonies, but we’re quickly emboldened by the UN’s International Day of Happiness, a smiling beacon cutting through the dark.

And if the March 20 menu doesn’t make you happy – National Ravioli Day (saucing up the versatile stuffed pasta) and International Macaron Day (a global celebration of the beloved sandwich cookies) – well, you’re just not trying.

Stowe must go on: Absolutely trying her best – and greatly influencing America’s historical course – was author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose anti-slavery masterwork “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was published on this date in 1852.

Free thinkers: Also sensing a theme was the Republican Party, a now-unrecognizable incarnation of the GOP that was founded on March 20, 1854, as an anti-slavery platform – and quickly earned the allegiance of Abraham Lincoln (freed the slaves), Rutherford Hayes (defended refugee slaves in court) and other liberal thinkers who championed the Reconstruction Era’s equality-focused 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments.

On the beam: Other shockers associated with this date include master Serbian innovator Nikola Tesla’s “System of Transmission of Electrical Energy,” a wireless-transmission breakthrough patented 126 years ago today.

In the bucket: Extra crispy would come later, but entrepreneur Harland Sanders opened the Sanders Court & Café – known later and best as Kentucky Fried Chicken – on this date in 1930. (Waning in the States, finger-lickin’ “KFC” remains a top-5 global fast-food chain thanks largely to international sales.)

I’ll be back (to Bataan): And it was March 20, 1942, when future airport namesake Douglas MacArthur, then a lieutenant general and commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East, issued his famously prophetic “I shall return” statement while fleeing the Philippine island of Luzon.

He certainly did – MacArthur, promoted to five-star general and Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, symbolically landed on the Island of Leyte in October 1944, igniting many months of bitter fighting to ultimately retake the Philippines from dug-in Japanese forces.

Funnyman: American actor, director, screenwriter, comedian and author Carl Reiner (1922-2020) – an all-time great whose prolific career earned him 11 Primetime Emmy Awards (and one honorary Emmy), a Grammy Award, a Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and many other accolades – would be 104 years old today.

Also born on March 20 were Scottish anatomist and scientific investigator John Goodsir (1814-1867), a pioneer in the formulation of cell theory; American archeologist Lucy Myers Wright Mitchell (1845-1888), a self-taught, world-renowned expert in ancient Greek and Roman art; American inventor and engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915), the “Father of Scientific Management” and namesake of industrial-revolutionizing Taylorism; American television host, composer, puppeteer, ordained Presbyterian minister and author Fred Rogers (1928-2003), public television’s greatest neighbor; and American filmmaker and actor Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee (born 1957) – provocative, uncompromising and absolutely brilliant.

Quintessential Q: And take a bow, John Sherwood de Lancie Jr.! The American actor – who has portrayed interdimensional troublemaker Q on 22 different episodes across the “Star Trek” franchise, narrated half-a-dozen “Trek” audiobooks and even headlined the interactive videogame “Star Trek: Borg” (play right now!) – turns 78 today.

Beam birthday wishes for the beloved recurring villain to editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips energize our warp core and we boldly go wherever your calendar events tell us.

 

About our sponsor: Family & Children’s Association is here for every Long Islander – ages 2 to 102 – facing social, emotional or economic challenges. Whether it’s mental-health support, help with substance use or gambling, or programs that protect and empower our seniors, FCA offers a wide range of services designed to strengthen individuals, families and communities. Our mission is simple: to make Long Island a healthier, safer and more compassionate place to live, work and raise a family.

 

BUT FIRST, THIS

Bee-plus students: Dozens of students representing 46 Long Island and New York City high schools strapped on their thinking caps last month for the eighth-annual Long Island Brain Bee.

Held Feb. 28 at the Hempstead-based Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, the regional Brain Bee competition – designed specifically to spark an interest in potential neuroscience/clinical science careers – featured a “Brain Facts” multiple-choice quiz (based on Society for Neuroscience data) and a hands-on laboratory test where participants explained structures and functions in actual human brains. Adam Hong of Levittown’s Division Avenue High School captured the regional title, punching his ticket to the National Brain Bee Championship, scheduled for April 25 at the University of California, Irvine.

Adam and other U.S. regional winners will be vying for spots in the 2026 International Brain Bee, scheduled to be held virtually in November. “This is such a unique and exciting experience for them as high schoolers,” noted Zucker School Associate Professor of Science Education Vanessa Reddin, the 2026 Long Island Brain Bee co-organizer. “We hope this experience plants a seed that grows into a future career in research or healthcare.”

Good Save: From our Innovate Connecticut office (not yet … but maybe soon!) comes oodles of data recounting Save The Sound’s 2025 “cleanup season.”

The New Haven-based 501(c)3 nonprofit – on a mission to fight climate change, restore threatened ecosystems and otherwise protect Long Island Sound and its tributary rivers and streams – recruited 2,414 volunteers last year to collect 11,541 pounds of trash during 98 cleanup events at beaches and inland parks along the Connecticut and New York coastlines. Cigarette butts, food wrappers and bottle caps (plastic and metal) led the litter list.

Thousands of each are collected each year – more than 18,000 cigarette butts alone in 2025, according to Save The Sound, which will kick off its 2026 cleanup season April 18 with scheduled scrubs at Long Wharf in New Haven, Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck and Harborfront Park in Port Jefferson. “Cleanups like these have many environmental benefits, such as removing items that can leach chemicals into the ground and our waterways and preventing discarded fishing lines from entangling wildlife,” noted Save the Sound Cleanup Coordinator Annalisa Paltauf. “It has a real impact, brings people together and encourages good stewardship of our region.”

 

POD PEOPLE

“Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast: kicks off its sixth season (!) with Molloy University President James Lentini – not just an ace academician, but a master musician known as much for his Classical guitar (and occasional Rock jams) as growing the 70-year-old university’s enrollment and endowment.

Spoiler alert: Running a $250 million institution and composing a three-part Biblical cantata have more in common than you think. Tune in for more.

 

TOP OF THE SITE

Widening its lead: Stony Brook University is pulling away from the quantum-computing field – and zeroing in on the world’s first Quantum Internet – with its multidisciplinary, well-funded, first-of-its-kind Quantum Institute.

Tell me more: Love the podcast? Us too – so many great stories and ideas. Hungry for more? Check out the amazing array of observations, opinions and best-practice solutions fueling our incredible Voices column, our socioeconomics-spanning op-ed page and the Innovate Long Island Debrief, our long-running Q&A feature. Intel ad infinitum!

 

ICYMI

With artificial intelligence invading our workspaces, Fair Media Council CEO/Executive Director Jaci Clement applies the harshest lessons of the Information Age in a cautionary tale about the rapidly evolving Digital Age.

 

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: Richmond-based baby-wellness wunderkind Mommy’s Bliss launches unique collaborative to overcome the unexpected loneliness of motherhood.

From New York City: Marketing master Mediaplanet unites educators, authors, nonprofits, cultural leaders and others for nationwide literacy campaign.

From California: Walnut Creek-based “table olive” originator Lindsay Olives spices things up with new line of savory Latin-inspired flavors.

 

ON THE MOVE

+ Bridget Mantello has been appointed director of development at the Ronkonkoma-based Association for Mental Health and Wellness. She was vice president of development and event management at United Way of Long Island in Deer Park.

+ Cynthia Seiden has been hired as principal at the Syosset-based Variety Child Learning Center. She was principal and education director at Soundview Early Childhood Center in the Bronx.

+ Kevin Deutsch has been promoted to chief growth officer at Stony Brook-based Softheon. He was general manager and senior vice president of the Commercial Health Plan Division.

+ Keith Topper has joined Uniondale-based Ruskin Moscou Faltischek as an associate in the Corporate & Securities Department. He was an associate at Satin and Lee Law in Melville.

+ Alan Gagnon has been promoted to director of development operations and delivery at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. He was senior website project developer.

+ Jillian Catalano has been hired as an associate account executive at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. She was a senior account coordinator at Rubenstein Communications in Manhattan.

+ Liz Bard has been promoted to executive director of the Bridgehampton-based Children’s Museum of the East End. She was co-president.

 

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 Family & Children’s Services). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.

 

BELOW THE FOLD (Spring Springs Edition)

Balancing act: Yeah, you can balance an egg on the equinox – just like any other day.

Oh, the horo: Your official, astrologically approved, can’t-miss Spring 2026 horoscope.

Spring of discontent: The ABS challenge system has upended MLB’s Spring Training.

For all seasons: Please continue supporting the outstanding organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including Family & Children’s Services, where the mental-health support and other compassionate services never end. Check them out.