You’ve been warmed: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, and a muggy one at that, as another late-season heatwave bakes our cakes here on Long Island.
Our intrepid weather prognosticators – no Henri jokes, please – promise some relief this weekend, so let’s crank the AC and wrap up the workweek as coolly as we can.
Wild bunch: Yellow alert! It’s National Banana Lovers Day.
Go bananas: On Aug. 25, we highlighted National Banana Split Day. Here on Aug. 27, the peels come off – from breads to puddings to sopa de platano, anything goes on National Banana Lovers Day.
Take your chances: The odds just might be in your favor today, known around the globe as International Lottery Day.
If games of chance aren’t your thing, here’s a sure bet – Aug. 27 is also National Just Because Day, when we’re encouraged to celebrate whatever the heck we want, however the heck we want to celebrate it.
The phantom menace: A lunar eclipse affected the outcome of the decades-long Peloponnesian War on this date in 413 B.C., when superstitious Athenian soldiers – spooked by the blackened moon – delayed their retreat from Sicily and were overrun by the Spartans.
Lose the battle, win the war: Washington and his troops took a beating in 1776’s ill-fated Battle of Long Island.
The empire strikes back: After marginal victories (more than a year earlier) against the British Army in the Battles of Lexington and Concord, American rebels were resoundingly defeated by imperial forces in the Battle of Long Island, waged 245 years ago today.
Rise of the skywalkers: The world’s first unmanned hydrogen balloon lifted off from Champ de Mars, Paris, on Aug. 27, 1783.
Exactly one year later – on Aug. 27, 1784 – Scottish inventor James Tyler made the first human balloon ascent over the British Isles, following multiple manned ascents over France.
A new hope: Wildcatter Edwin Drake drilled the first U.S. oil well on this date in 1859.
Today, there are roughly 1.7 million active oil and gas wells in the United States.
The force awakens: And it was Aug. 27, 2003, when the Golden Valley Electric Association powered up the Battery Energy Storage System, a 1,500-ton backup electrical system for Fairbanks, Alaska – officially, the world’s biggest battery.
Logical choice: Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano (1858-1932) – who tried (unsuccessfully) to create a single language combining Latin, French, German and English and (very successfully) founded symbolic logic – would have been 163 years old today.
Man of the people: LBJ’s “great society” emphasized civil rights, public broadcasting and Medicare.
Also born on Aug. 27 were American archeologist James Breasted (1865-1935), who convinced scholars the road to modern Western Civilization went through the Middle East, not Ancient Greece or Rome; American suffragist and philanthropist Katharine Dexter McCormick (1875-1967), who funded the research behind the first birth control pill; Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973), the 36th U.S. President; polarizing political operative Roger Stone (born 1952), a self-described “dirty trickster”; and American fashion designer, photographer and film director Tom Ford (born 1961), who rescued Gucci before blazing his own path.
Intelligence, personified: And take a bow, Avril Danica Haines! The American lawyer, former deputy national security advisor and current director of national intelligence – the first woman to head the U.S. Intelligence Community – turns 52 today.
Wish Haines – also the first woman to serve as CIA deputy director – a happy birthday at editor@innovateli.com., where we only get more intelligent (and more secure) when you share news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: New York Institute of Technology’s 90-plus, profession-ready degree programs incorporate applied research, real-world case studies and professors who bring decades of industry knowledge and research into the classroom, where students and faculty work side by side researching cybersecurity, drone design, microchips, robotics, artificial intelligence, app development and more. Visit us.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Shredding it: Researchers from Stony Brook University, the University of Arizona and the Wake Forest School of Medicine have discovered a major clue regarding severe COVID-19 symptoms – and a possible roadmap to new therapeutic targets.
Analyzing COVID patient blood samples, researchers found that sPLA2-IIA – a potent antimicrobial enzyme – may be critical to preventing patients from succumbing to COVID-19. Similar to an enzyme found in rattlesnake venom, sPLA2-IIA literally shreds cell membranes and is actually a great defender against harmful bacteria, grabbing hold of specific fats in invading microbes and tearing them apart; in COVID’s case, sPLA2-IIA inhibitors could “reduce, or even prevent, COVID-19 mortality,” according to researcher Maurizio Del Poeta, who co-authored a new paper published this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Del Poeta, a SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Renaissance School of Medicine’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, noted the use of machine learning in the critical research. “We identified a new blood marker that is highly elevated in severe and deceased versus mild or negative COVID-19 patients, and built a decision tree … that will help clinicians on the predictability of dying from COVID-19,” the scientist said. “Our study supports the use of [sPLA2-IIA] inhibitors in patients with elevated level of sPLA2-IIA.”
Walking tall: Hochul, road warrior.
Safety first: Freshly minted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday the completion of pedestrian-safety projects along the 90-mile State Route 25 corridor and other roads in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The projects, all completed under their estimated budgets, included the installation of more than 250 curb ramps, 1,800-plus feet of new sidewalks and dozens of new traffic signals. The $8.6 million Route 25 project, which came in roughly $1 million under budget, incorporated some 300 distinct pedestrian-safety enhancements between the New York City border and Orient Point; a separate $2.7 million package of projects – about $600,000 less than expected – included Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant curb ramps along the Town of Hempstead’s Hempstead Turnpike, the Town of Huntington’s Main Street and the Town of Southampton’s portion of State Route 27.
Pedestrians will also benefit from some 800 feet of new or upgraded sidewalks along those three busy roadways, according to Hochul, who took the reins from disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the wee hours Wednesday morning. “If we are serious about securing a greener future for all New Yorkers, making our streets safer and more walkable needs to be at the top of our agenda,” the governor said. “We must continue working to improve accessibility and make our streets and highways more accommodating to all modes of transportation.”
TOP OF THE SITE
All will be Revealed: A Bohemia-based med-tech innovator with decades of major-league experience is shining new light on tricky brain-tumor surgeries.
Force 10 from Copiague: High-tech force-measurement specialist Mark-10 Corporation will remain in Suffolk County, with the help of the Suffolk IDA.
Applied generously: When Applied DNA Sciences innovates, global markets notice. Learn why directly from CEO James Hayward, just one of the incredible guests who made Season 1 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast so cool. Stream away.
ICYMI
Better EV batteries in development at Stony Brook University; better HVAC professionals in development at Suffolk Community College.
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 New Jersey: Howell-based payment-technology trailblazer Cardknox onboards merchant accounts “in record time” with comprehensive payment-facilitator platform.
From California: San Francisco-based digital-signage specialist Raydiant teams up with digital-network leader Captivate to enhance digital screens in upscale settings.
From Virginia: Arlington-based not-for-profit Responsibility.org launches digital version of Alcohol101+, aiming to educate collegians on the dangers of binge drinking.
ON THE MOVE
Justin Fincher
+ Justin Fincher has joined Stony Brook University as vice president for advancement. Fincher, also named executive director of the Stony Brook Foundation, was previously vice president for advancement at The Ohio State University.
+ Gia Catalano has been hired as the marketing assistant for Melville-based Tenenbaum Law. She previously worked in the SUNY Oneonta Office of Admissions as the Oneonta Connection Team supervisor and tour guide.
+ Johnny Hall has joined Melville-based Advantage Title as senior vice president and underwriting counsel. He previously served as counsel to Fidelity National Title in Riverhead.
+ Scott Maskin has joined the Ronkonkoma-based CMM Cares Board of Directors. He is the CEO of Ronkonkoma-based SUNation Solar Systems.
+ John Collins has been appointed to the Forest Hills-based Cord Meyer Development Co. Board of Directors. He previously served as president and CEO of NYU Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola.
+ Dominick Palma has been named the president-elect of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents. He is the superintendent of the Merrick School District.
BELOW THE FOLD
Nap time: Science approves!
It’s simple: The neuroscience-approved five-minute habit that will change your life.
It’s complicated: The tangled reality of doing what you love.
Harder than it looks: The confounding reality of near-perfect COVID-19 vaccines.
Easier than you think: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the New York Institute of Technology, where seasoned faculty and hands-on experience influence your best professional course. Check them out.
