In memoriam: Welcome, dear readers, to the end of an abbreviated workweek, and the eve of a momentous anniversary.
It’s Friday, Sept. 10, and before we get back into a more regular workflow next week, we’ll pause tomorrow to remember the unprecedented events of 20 years ago – remembering the ones we lost and the ones who helped get us back on our feet again.
Hard to believe 20 years have passed. To those still dealing with the pain, our hearts go out to you.
Tunnel vision: Your missing car keys may have been sucked into an alternate dimension by the Large Hadron Collider.
Collision course: On a much lighter note, Sept. 10 is Blame It On The Large Hadron Collider Day, when the world’s most powerful particle accelerator – located on the French/Swiss border – takes the fall for misplaced socks and other everyday items that inexplicably disappear.
It’s also a good day to daydream about your golden years – National 401(K) Day, a salute to your future retirement, always observed the Friday after Labor Day.
Keeps us in stitches: Massachusetts inventor Elias Howe surely secured his nest egg on Sept. 10, 1846, when he patented the first practical sewing machine.
Keeps on ticking: Also sewing up a spot in history was German surgeon Ludwig Rehn, who sutured a myocardial laceration 125 years ago today – officially recorded as the world’s first heart surgery.
Bad influence: Crashing his way into the history books was tanked taxi driver George Smith, who slammed his motorcar into a London building on Sept. 10, 1897, leading to the world’s first DUI arrest.
Smith plead guilty and was fined 25 schillings – about $5 in U.S. currency in 1897, or $164 today.
Cold start: Convenience redefined.
What, no dessert? Also smashing into the zeitgeist was the Swanson food company, which introduced the original TV Dinner – featuring turkey, cornbread dressing, peas and sweet potatoes – on this date in 1953.
Identification, please: And “genetic fingerprinting” became a thing on Sept. 10, 1984, when British geneticist Alex Jeffreys deduced that unique DNA signatures could be used to identify criminal perpetrators.
The University of Leicester researcher was exploring the heredity of disease-causing mutations when he made his groundbreaking discovery.
The prince of PVC: American chemist and inventor Waldo Lonsbury Semon (1898-1999) – who concocted more than 5,000 synthetic-rubber compounds but changed manufacturing forever with a formula that turned polyvinyl chloride into an uber-useful super-substance – would be 123 years old today.
Play Misty: Copeland, on her toes.
Also born on Sept. 10 were American Lutheran minister, editor and lexicographer Isaac Funk (1839-1912), one half of the encyclopedic Funk & Wagnalls publishing duo; German archeologist Robert Koldewey (1855-1925), who opened ancient Babylon’s Ishtar Gate; adventurous English botanist Lillian Gibbs (1870-1925), who moved mountains, or at least scaled them; American golfing legend Arnold Palmer (1929-2016), who was equally successful off the links; and American dancer Misty Copeland (born 1982), the first African American woman promoted to principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre.
Look, Ma: And take a bow, Jack Ma Yun! The Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist – the co-founder of multinational tech giant Alibaba Group who famously criticized the Chinese financial industry in October 2020 and then mysteriously vanished – turns 57 today (we hope).
Wish the MIA multibillionaire well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips and calendar events never go missing.
About our sponsor: Sahn Ward is one of the region’s most highly regarded and recognized law firms. Our attorneys are thought leaders, dedicated to achieving success through excellence. With our broad experience in land use, development, litigation, real estate, corporate and environmental law, we have the vision and knowledge to serve our clients and our communities. Please visit sahnward.com.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Minds made up: Three-quarters of vaccinated individuals will get a COVID-19 vaccination booster when booster shots become widely available, while a majority of unvaccinated people haven’t changed their minds about COVID vaccines in general.
So says the latest Mount Sinai South Nassau Truth in Medicine Poll, conducted Aug. 24 through Aug. 27 by the flagship Long Island hospital of the Mount Sinai Health System. Surveying Long Island and New York City adults, the poll determined that only 23 percent of the metropolitan area’s unvaccinated are more likely to take the Pfizer vaccine now that the FDA has given the shot its final approval, with 54 percent saying the federal stamp hasn’t changed their minds; 43 percent of the unvaccinated said they think the medication is unsafe, or otherwise distrust the government’s recommendations.
Meanwhile, the survey – the first Truth in Medicine poll since October 2020 and the fourth focused on COVID-19 – found that 75 percent of vaccinated persons are ready to roll up their sleeves for a booster shot. The poll of 600 adults was sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union and conducted by phone, with a sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.
Positive prognosis: The uber-optimistic Northwell Health Nurse Choir has reached the “AGT” finals.
Practitioners make perfect: Surprising no one – considering the lavish season-long praise of the show’s judges, the support of fans across the nation and all the feels of a global pandemic – the Northwell Health Nurse Choir has charged into the final round of the “America’s Got Talent” competition.
There’s also the 18-member chorus’ immense vocal skills, on full display Tuesday during their live version of Andy Grammer’s “Don’t Give Up On Me.” Following their May rendition of “Stand By Me” – earning a “golden buzzer” ticket straight to the semifinals from judge Howie Mandel – and their August performance of “You Will Be Found,” the choir’s latest inspirational anthem brought down the house once more, with another sustained ovation from the in-studio audience and “AGT” judges Mandel, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell.
On Wednesday night’s “results” show, the team learned it had been voted into the finals, and with the competition’s $1 million grand prize (or thereabouts) up for grabs, the Nurse Choir will take the stage for one more live performance during the two-part “AGT” season finale, scheduled for Sept. 14 and 15. “I just want to say ‘thank you,’” Mandel told the performers, after their finals ticket was punched. “Thank you for who you are, thank you for the fact that you showed up here, thank you for what you do. This is America saying a big ‘thank you.’”
TOP OF THE SITE
Additive identity: With Stony Brook University’s help, a 2014 additive-manufacturing startup is riding the 3D-printing wave straight out of the COVID downturn.
Booster shot: Albany’s new $40 million Biodefense Commercialization Fund will help speed promising research to market – good news for the Long Island biotech corridor.
Innovation exploration: From the classroom to the C-suite to the factory floor, Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast skirts the frontiers of invention, entrepreneurship and executive thought. Season 2 coming soon … Season 1 streaming now.
ICYMI
Veteran political operatives with bona fide presidential pedigrees have joined Hofstra University’s Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency.
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 Texas: McKinney-based robotics-as-a-service leader Robin Autopilot launches Fleet Console platform to help landscapers track and command robotic lawn mowers.
From Colorado: Denver-based “impact mitigation” innovator SKYDEX partners with Ohio-based protection pioneer ArmorSource on next-generation combat helmets.
From New Jersey: Tinton Falls-based cyber-compliance and smart-grid spearhead IPKeys Power Partners supersizes cybersecurity for utilities and power-grid operators.
ON THE MOVE
Stephanie Alberts
+ Stephanie Alberts has been appointed co-chairwoman of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Surrogate’s Court Estates and Trusts Committee. She’s a partner in the Tax, Trusts and Estates Practice Group at Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana.
+ Michael Calcagni has been appointed co-vice chairman of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Surrogate’s Court Estates and Trusts Committee. He is as counsel at Garden City-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff.
+ The Hempstead-based Family and Children’s Association has named Jared Kasschau to its Board of Trustees. He’s a partner in the Uniondale-based office of Harris Beach.
+ James McCabe has been named assistant superintendent of student services for the Copiague School District. He previously served as director of guidance.
+ Hematologist-oncologist Alfredo Torres has been appointed assistant chief medical officer for New York Cancer and Blood Specialists. He’s a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital.
BELOW THE FOLD (No Place Like Home Edition)
Top floor: Treehouses can be magic.
Sellers beware: The balance of power could soon shift back to Long Island homebuyers.
Bird’s eye view: Why treehouses are experiencing a renaissance.
It’s personal: How to transform your living space in 30 minutes or (way) less.
Home team: Please continue to support the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Sahn Ward, where experienced thought leaders give you the home-field advantage on regional real estate matters. Check them out.
