Downs and ups: The first workweek of summer knocked down, the first weekend of the season queued up – well played, intrepid reader.
It’s Friday, June 25, and we’re ready to finish strong. Away we go!
Facial recognition: The unmistakable, mustachioed catfish.
By a whisker: Lovers of fried fish, rejoice – it’s National Catfish Day, saluting the tasty swimmer identified primarily by its mustache-like tendrils.
Follow your fish fry with one of the universe’s great gifts to the sweet-toothed, especially at the height of strawberry season – June 25 is also National Strawberry Parfait Day.
Meals on wheels: If fish and strawberries don’t whet your appetite, take your pick – the last Friday in June is also National Food Truck Day.
Fork in the road: A spoon is fine for your parfait, but Massachusetts Gov. John Winthrop turned heads (and a few stomachs) on June 25, 1630, when he chowed down with a “split spoon” – essentially, the Colonial American debut of the fork.
Forks, at the time, were generally frowned upon – clergymen claimed they were evil (“God’s food” should be eaten by hand, they said), others considered them effeminate.
The Virginians: Happy anniversary, Virginia! One of the original 13 colonies – home of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and six other U.S. Presidents, more than any other state – became the 10th U.S. state 233 years ago today.
More to the point: From livestock wars to refugee scars, barbed wire has a troubled legacy.
Wire report: Ohio inventor Lucien Smith patented barbed wire on June 25, 1867, sparking feuds between farmers (who wanted to protect their crops) and ranchers (who wanted their livestock to graze freely).
Also patented on this date was the railroad lock – officially, an “Improvement in Padlocks” – locked up by Brooklyn innovator Wilson Bohannan in 1878.
Palette premiere: Color television became a thing on this date in 1951, when the Columbia Broadcasting System television network broadcasted a talent show featuring “the old redhead” Arthur Godfrey, puppeteer Bil Baird, the New York City Ballet and other popular entertainers of the day.
Windows seat: And it was June 25, 1981, when Microsoft – which was actually founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 – officially incorporated in Washington State.
Carle up with a good book: The acclaimed illustrator/author influenced children around the globe.
Carle’s place: American-German author and illustrator Eric Carle (1929-2021) – whose 1969 picture book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” (one of 70-plus children’s books he created) has sold 50 million copies in 66 languages, and who passed away just four weeks ago – would be 92 years old today.
Also born on June 25 were Scottish-American botanist David Douglas (1799-1834), namesake of the Douglas fir; Nobel Prize-winning German chemist Walther Nernst (1864-1941), a cornerstone of modern physical chemistry; Austrian-German engineer and “father of rocketry” Hermann Oberth (1894-1989), a Nazi scientist who became an indispensable NASA contributor; English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), known better by the pen name George Orwell; and Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford (1928-1992), known best as Peyo, creator of the Smurfs.
A wonderful life: And take a bow, Virginia Ann Patton! The niece of World War II general George S. Patton, former actress and retired American businesswoman – who appeared as George Bailey’s sister-in-law in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and later founded a successful commercial real estate management firm – turns 96 today.
Give the multitalented actress/entrepreneur your best at editor@innovateli.com, where every time you send a news tip or calendar event, an angel gets his wings. Or something like that.
About our sponsor: St. Joseph’s College has been dedicated to providing a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the College provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual and spiritual values, social responsibility and service. Through SJC Brooklyn, SJC Long Island and SJC Online, the College offers degrees in 50 majors, special course offerings and certificates, affiliated and pre-professional programs. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Sleep on it: A new study out of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research – global headquarters for the science of vagus nerve stimulation – goes where no nerve-stimulation research has gone before: to sleep.
For the first time, Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine scientists have characterized cerebral responses to vagus nerve stimulation at different states of sleep and wakefulness. The research, published this week by the Oxford University Press journal Cerebral Cortex, adds to science’s understanding of the role the crucial, full-body vagus nerve plays in brain functionality, while offering new clues about optimizing VNS’s therapeutic potential.
Led by Feinstein Institutes Assistant Professor Stavros Zanos, the study stimulated nerves in nonhuman primates via an implanted “neurochip” while the subjects were both awake and asleep. Among the findings: Brain neurons were less stimulated when the animals were active and more stimulated when they were sleeping. “The question of which fibers of the vagus to stimulate and, more importantly, when … remains unknown,” Zanos noted. “By observing and understanding the effects of VNS on brain function, we can create personalized, fine-tuned treatments for [multiple] diseases.”
Dmitri Kharzeev: Multinational mastermind.
Academy award: A SUNY Distinguished Professor and member of Stony Brook University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy has been elected a foreign member of The Academy of Europe, a rare distinction.
Dmitri Kharzeev, director of the Center for Nuclear Theory in SBU’s College of Arts and Sciences, was nominated for the Physics and Engineering Sciences Section of the London-based Academia Europaea. The scientist, who maintains a joint appointment with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, was honored for his groundbreaking work on quantum anomalies that replicate superconductivity at extremely high temperatures – potentially, the basis for new quantum-computing devices.
Kharzeev is one of 17 new members joining The Academy of Europe in 2021. Election of non-European scientists to the peer-nominated association is noteworthy; as of 2020, the academy – founded in 1988 – boasted 3,470 members hailing from 37 European countries, and only 147 members from 15 non-European countries.
TOP OF THE SITE
This is IT: Prolific product-design specialist Intelligent Product Solutions is showing some real (digital) guts with its new cloud-based IT spinoff.
The sound of scholarships: The Long Island Music Hall of Fame has helped four Island students with immense musical talent tune up their collegiate careers.
Presidential plans: New Long Island Association President/CEO Matt Cohen has set a busy agenda – hear the details on the latest episode of our engaging podcast series.
ICYMI
Raising a state-of-the-art Emergency Department in Oceanside; raising the clean-energy bar in Stony Brook.
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: Orlando-based telemedicine platform TeleDaddy adds digital therapy, including digital Rx prescriptions, to its physician-managed online suite.
From Colorado: Denver-based digital networker Lumen enhances Microsoft Teams with “unified communications solution” promoting agility and productivity.
From California: San Jose-based remote-access ace Splashtop and Los Angeles-based data-backup boss reevert unite for ransomware-resilient data-management solution.
ON THE MOVE
Jon Longtin
+ Jon Longtin has been named interim dean of Stony Brook University’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He most recently served as associate dean of research and entrepreneurship.
+ Gregory Lisi has been installed as the 119th president of the Nassau County Bar Association. He is a partner at Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana and chairman of the firm’s Employment & Labor Practice Group.
+ Alex Harris has been named director of Upton-based Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Energy Sciences Department. The chairman of the laboratory’s Chemistry Division previously served as interim energy sciences director.
+ Ronkonkoma-based Campolo Middleton & McCormick has announced two new hires: Diana Santariello is director of client relations; she was previously director of sales and marketing for Ronkonkoma-based Techworks Consulting. Elizabeth Savasta is firm administrator; she was previously a paralegal at Woodbury-based Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck.
+ Justin Freedman has been promoted to vice president of operations at Garden City Park-based Michael Anthony Construction Corp. He previously served as executive project manager.
+ Mike Savarese has been appointed a trustee of the Fayetteville-based New York Section of the American Water Works Association’s Board of Governors. He is a senior associate at D&B Engineers and Architects in Woodbury.
BELOW THE FOLD (Close Encounters Edition)
That’s no moon: Oumuamua was actually advanced alien technology, according to a Harvard astrophysicist.
Open and disclosed: Strap in, earthlings … the U.S. government is about to issue its much-anticipated report on “unidentified aerial phenomena.”
By intellects vast and cool … and unsympathetic? Scientists believe Earth is being watched by alien astronomers.
Kinda makes sensor: Was the Solar System’s first-known interstellar visitor actually an alien tracking device? A Harvard astrophysicist thinks so.
Inalienably awesome: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including St. Joseph’s College, where earthly greatness is identified, flying high and eminently objectifiable. Check them out.
