Medical leave: Congratulations, intrepid innovator – you’ve survived a post-holiday workweek and arrived at the doorstep of another glorious Summer weekend!
Just one more workday to plow through, and this handy dandy week-in-innovation review to kick it off – but first, a quick reminder that Innovate Long Island is taking a short medical leave next week (absolutely not our idea).
Please enjoy your regularly scheduled Monday Calendar Newsletter on July 13, then carry on without us for a few days – we’ll be back on the beat July 22 with your next Wednesday Newsletter. Another reminder Monday.
Alternative learning: The rest of the world is smartening up — the United States, not so much.
Independence Day 2: Back here on July 10, we’re kicking things off with a nod to Global Energy Independence Day, spotlighting environmentally friendly (and economically lucrative, at least in more progressive nations) alternative energy sources.
Whether you embrace tomorrow’s science (solar, wind and other clean-energy sources) or dig fossil fuels (including finite and climatologically destructive coal), you’ll likely acknowledge that tiny baby cats are adorable – making National Kitten Day something we can all agree on.
Three great tastes that go great together: We can also agree that today’s holiday menu is a winner, on a Summer Friday or any day – World Kebab Day (skewered every second Friday of July), National French Fry Day (saluting the ultimate side dish every July 10) and National Pina Colada Day (best when served in an actual coconut shell) are all on tap.
Oh, my Godiva: It’s history’s most infamous horse ride … but did it really happen?
Never let the truth ruin a good story (especially one with graphic nudity): Other winners honored today include Lady Godiva, the 11th Century English noblewoman who – according to legend – rode naked through the Village of Coventry on this date in 1040 to protest high taxes imposed by her husband, Leofric, the Earl of Mercia.
Equality time: We weren’t there to witness it, but we understand President Benjamin Harrison was fully clothed 136 years ago today, when he signed the Statehood Bill making Wyoming the 44th state admitted to the Union.
Tel us more: We also have it on good word that there was no nudity at Mission Control on July 10, 1962, when NASA technicians presided over the launch of Telstar I, the world’s first active communications satellite.
On point(s): Speaking of brilliant innovators, it was 64 years ago today when Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin patented the three-point seatbelt, credited with saving countless lives over the subsequent six decades.
Have a (Classic) Coke and a smile: And it was July 10, 1985, when Coca-Cola announced it was bringing back its original formula, following the “New Coke” marketing disaster.
“Coca-Cola Classic” would share shelf space with “New Coke” (later “Coke II”) until 2002, when the powers that be finally pulled the plug on the super-sweet, publicly sour sequel.
Calvin climb: French theologian and ecclesiastical statesman John Calvin (1509-1564) – a cold and unemotional intellectual remembered as the most important figure in the Protestant Reformation’s second generation – would be 517 years old today.
Namesake: Before he was a stadium, Arthur Ashe was a pioneering tennis pro.
Also born on July 10 were Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer and mechanical engineer Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), the Edison archrival who did some of his best work right here on Long Island; American politician David Dinkins (1927-2020), New York City’s first African American mayor; Canadian writer Alice Ann Munro (1931-2024), a Nobel Prize winner credited with revolutionizing the art of the short story; American tennis star Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (1943-1993), still the only African American to win the men’s single titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open; and American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck (born 1958), a bluegrass and jazz master who’s collected an astounding 18 Grammy Awards.
Once and future: And take a bow, Vivek Hallegere Murthy! The American physician and former vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps – who served as the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States (hired by Obama, fired by Trump, re-hired by Biden) – turns 49 today.
Send birthday wishes for the first U.S. surgeon general of Indian descent to editor@innovateli.com, where our health (except for, you know, next week’s unanticipated surgery) relies heavily on your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: New York & Atlantic Railway is the primary freight railroad for New York City and Long Island and has operated the Long Island Rail Road’s freight lease since 1997 on tracks shared with the nation’s busiest commuter rail system. Through its service connections, NYA links Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk to every major North American freight railroad – moving goods efficiently and affordably while reducing congestion and emissions across the region. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Oh, $#!+: Stony Brook University researchers are closely monitoring climate-induced changes in the Antarctic food web – by diving deep into penguin poop.
In a study published this week by the peer-reviewed science journal Current Biology, scientists – including Professor Heather Lynch, the endowed chair for ecology and evolution at SBU’s Institute for Advanced Computational Science – discuss how they used satellite imagery to observe Adélie penguin colonies (and their guano) to determine what the birds eat and how changes in sea ice are affecting the regional food web. The paper’s lead author – Clemson University Assistant Professor (and SBU alum) Casey Youngflesh, who previously collected guano samples in the field – reconstructed Adélie diets based on the color of their droppings in the NASA Landsat satellite imagery, ultimately determining their eating habits were partially linked to changes in Antarctic sea ice.
The poop’s “spectral signature” is a useful indicator of broader changes in the Antarctic ecosystem, according to Lynch, one of six authors listed on the Current Biology article. “We’re no longer restricted to just studying the colonies we can easily get to,” the professor noted. “This provides a whole new perspective on environmental change in the Antarctic.”
Preservation celebration: When the kids in the stroller become parents, there’s a good chance the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail will still be cutting a preservation swath along the North Shore.
Trail blazer: The Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail will be preserved for generations to come.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation this week permanently preserving the paved recreational path, which winds for three-plus miles through wooded lots and residential neighborhoods along Suffolk County’s north shore. The legislation – sponsored by State Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Hauppauge) and Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay (D-4th Dist.) – also transfers 40 acres of the former Lawrence Aviation site in Port Jefferson from the Suffolk County Landbank to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is planning a new railyard in connection with the electrification of the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson Branch.
Securing the fate of the Lawrence Aviation site – a former aeronautic sheet metal manufacturing hub designated a federal Superfund site in 2000 – is a big deal for the Greenway Trail and surrounding communities, according to the governor. “For decades, the future of the Lawrence Aviation site remained in doubt, leaving an entire community uncertain about the status of the beloved [trail] and the long-term prospects for cleaner and faster electrified LIRR service,” Hochul noted. “This common-sense deal will preserve the greenway in perpetuity and ensure that when an (electrification) project is ready … this site will be secured and ready.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Abandonment issues: They were closed for good reasons, notes Voices Social Services Anchor Jeffrey Reynolds, but the long-abandoned Kings Park and Pilgrim psychiatric centers may soon be revived by the Trump Administration’s misguided mental-health policies.
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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 Florida: Leesburg-based medical-device maker RunStar pumps up at-home self-care with its intuitive and empowering Smart Blood Pressure Monitor.
From Texas: Richardson-based toys-and-games guru Goliath executes a tush push with Chester Cheeks (a.k.a. “Butt Face”), an interactive (and fairly flatulent) plaything.
From Georgia: Atlanta-based sports-entertainment engine PlayChange.io merges sports, blockchain, AI and digital commerce in new athlete-owned gaming ecosystem.
ON THE MOVE
Colleen Merlo
+ Colleen Merlo has been hired as chief operating officer at Wading River-based Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York. The licensed social worker was CEO of the Association for Mental Health and Wellness.
+ Karin Gwinn Wilkins has been named the next dean of the Stony Brook University School of Communications and Journalism. She was dean of the School of Communication at the University of Miami.
+ Matthew Weiss has been appointed senior vice president and chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine of Hofstra/Northwell, Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital. He was deputy physician-in-chief and director of the Surgical Oncology Program at the Northwell Cancer Institute.
+ Bohemia-based Cerini & Associates has announced two staff promotions:
- Jessica Bliss has been promoted to supervisor in the Education and Consulting Practice. She was senior auditor.
- Akshay Kumar has been promoted to senior auditor in the Education and Consulting Practice. He was staff accountant.
+ Carol Dunning has been promoted to chief operating officer and chief legal officer of Cold Spring Harbor-based Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. She was general counsel.
+ Brian Kim has been hired as vice president and chief biotechnology officer of New Hyde Park-based Northwell Health. Kim, who’s also been named head of intellectual asset management at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, was a physician at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
+ Ronkonkoma-based Hayduk Engineering has announced several new hires:
- Lisa Mato has joined the firm as senior grant writer. She is a longtime grant administrator and independent consultant.
- John Pavacic has joined the firm as a senior environmental consultant. He was executive director of the Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission.
- Kevin Peterman has joined the firm as deputy director of civil engineering. He was an associate at L.K. McLean Associates in Brookhaven.
+ Frank Trotta has been elected chairman of the Board of Directors of Medford-based Suffolk Credit Union. He is the CEO and publisher of Fire News and the former mayor of the Village of Bellport.
+ Kelly Linden has been hired as vice president of human resources at Wading River-based Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York. He is a former teacher and longtime men’s and women’s lacrosse coach.
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BELOW THE FOLD (Life In Spaaaaace Edition)
Alien language: If you find them, SETI would like you to announce it with care.
Not alone: Revealing new UFO images, NASA chief insists “there’s life everywhere.”
So, we’re the aliens? Study says Earth life may be populating an icy Jovian moon.
It’s AI’s fault, of course: Why SETI changed the rules of extraterrestrial contact.
Down to Earth: Please continue supporting the outstanding organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including New York & Atlantic Railway, which offers a common sense – and highly innovative – solution to regional environmental and traffic-congestion issues. Check them out.
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