Deuces wild: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and not just any Wednesday but the first Wednesday of February 2022 – making this 2/2/22, of course, a wild day indeed on the quest for socioeconomic innovation.
All together now: A good day for mushing.
Dramatic paws: For starters, this furry Feb. 2 observation – National Sled Dog Day, which salutes the beasts of burden, who would’ve been pretty helpful during Saturday’s blizzard.
Hungry? Carb up – today is also National Crepe Day (highlighting the thin pancakes), with a side of National Tater Tot Day (honoring the crispy potato nuggets) and a nice dish of National Heavenly Hash Day (celebrating a variety of marshmallow-centric desserts).
Inexact science: It goes without saying that Feb. 2 is also Groundhog Day, a popular tradition observed not only in Punxsutawney, Pa., but across the United States and Canada.
For the record, Punxsutawney Phil – the seer of seers, prognosticator of prognosticators – has been right on about 39 percent of 125 Groundhog Day predictions.
Play ball: Living up to predictions was the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which was founded on this date in 1876.
Major League Baseball’s “senior circuit” – featuring teams in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville and Kentucky – predated the American League by 25 years.
Now streaming: Irish legend James Joyce’s most celebrated novel – “Ulysses,” a stream-of-consciousness epic counted among the most important works of modernist literature – was published in Paris 100 years ago today (more Joyceness below).
Lead, by example: They don’t make them like they used to.
Put the lead in: Ethyl gasoline (tempered with ethylene dibromide to minimize lead deposits on engine valves) debuted commercially on Feb. 2, 1923.
For those keeping score, unleaded gasoline was introduced in the United States in the 1970s and leaded gasoline was completed phased out by 1996.
Follies: At different times a first-run playhouse, a second-run movie theater, a television studio and more, New York City’s original, 1,628-seat Ziegfeld Theatre opened on this date in 1927.
Pants on fire: And the polygraph machine – which measures blood pressure, pulse rate and other physiological indicators to detect lies – was first used to secure a criminal prosecution on Feb. 2, 1935, sending two Wisconsin men to prison for assault.
On ’garde: Aforementioned Irish author James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (1882-1941) – a novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic and cornerstone of the modernist avant-garde movement – would be 140 years old today.
Angel: Fawcett, burning it up.
Also born on Feb. 2 were Italian mathematician Lodovico Ferrari (1522-1565), who raced to the head of the algebra class; German-American botanist George Engelmann (1809-1884), who defined the flora of the Western United States; English physician, eugenicist, writer and social reformer Havelock Ellis (1859-1939), who talked about sex, baby; American actress Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009), a true 1970s icon; and American actor, singer and musician Brent Spiner (born 1949), known best for playing “Star Trek” android Data (who will be activated on this date in 2338, according to canon).
Magic Garten: And take a bow, Ina Rosenberg Garten! The American author, television chef and former White House aide to two presidents – known best as the “Barefoot Contessa” – turns 74 today.
Wish the multitalented Hamptonite well at editor@innovateli.com, where your spicy news tips are always well done and your sweet calendar events add real sizzle.
About our sponsor: St. Joseph’s College has provided a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. The independent, coeducational college provides a strong academic and value-oriented undergraduate and graduate education, preparing students for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual and spiritual values, social responsibility and service. Through SJC Long Island, SJC Brooklyn and SJC Online, the college offers degrees in 50 majors, special course offerings and certificates, affiliated courses and pre-professional programs. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Straight AAASes: The American Association for the Advancement of Science has tapped two Stony Brook University professors for its renowned class of 2021 fellows.
Abhay Deshpande, a distinguished professor in SBU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Alan Alda, a visiting professor in the eponymous Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, have both been named 2021 AAAS fellows. The honors – slated to be officially conferred at the association’s virtual annual meeting on Feb. 19 – are offered annually to new AAAS members whose efforts to advance science or its applications are “scientifically or socially distinguished,” according to the circa-1848, Washington-based association.
Deshpande, a nuclear physicist who also directs Electron-Collider Ion Science at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, said he was “happy and honored to be elected an AAAS fellow,” and credited the honor to his SBU and BNL students and colleagues. Emmy Award-winner Alda, who founded the Center for Communicating Science in 2009, “has been a strong advocate for science and science communication,” according to Alda Center Executive Director Laura Lindenfeld. “He has helped all of us who value science communication to raise awareness of the importance of effective communication,” Lindenfeld added.
Insurance plan: A boost for IgniteLI members, according to Executive Director Patrick Boyle.
Insurance quotes: A new collaboration between a regional nonprofit trade association and a major-league insurance provider will help Long Island manufacturers attract and retain top talent.
IgniteLI, a registered 501(c)(6) representing various manufacturing sectors across Nassau and Suffolk counties, has welcomed Aflac to its “business support cohort” as a supplemental-insurance resource for IgniteLI members. The insurer will offer voluntary supplemental benefits policies – which help cover out-of-pocket expenses not covered by typical major-medical plans – at no direct cost to IgniteLI member companies, most of which are family-owned manufacturing enterprises, according to the Hauppauge-based, member-centric manufacturing consortium.
The idea is to bolster the membership with an added value other employers might not offer, according to IgniteLI Executive Director Patrick Boyle. “Adding supplemental benefits insurance can help employees pick up the pieces and get back on their feet faster,” the exec said in a statement. “We can help our employees feel more protected and have peace of mind.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 20: David Chauvin, pulsating.
From rising star of Nassau County politics to executive vice president of ZE Creative Communications to media/government master of Innovate LI’s Voices column, David Chauvin has his finger on the pulse of Long Island’s innovation economy – and a unique understanding of social responsibility.
Sponsored by clean-energy leader ThermoLift, Season 2 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast sits down with one of the best communicators in the business.
TOP OF THE SITE
Sini city: One of the greats of Long Island law has taken a corner office at Nixon Peabody, joining the firm’s Litigation Department and Government Investigations & White-Collar Defense Practice Group.
Behavioral adjustment: Mom and pop must adapt to post-COVID consumer behaviors, according to Trellus co-founder Adam Haber, who senses a do-or-die moment for small business.
Growing up right: It’s very thoughtful of your boss to share this amazing newsletter with you three times a week – but don’t you think you should have your own subscription, like the big kids? Always easy, always free.
VOICES
Voices historian Tom Mariner reviews the incredible career of Stony Brook University Professor Kenneth Short, a paragon of microchip technology who’s either contributed directly to your favorite tech or trained someone who did.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Identity crisis: Is Web3 a scam, the future, or both? Vox’s Recode reveals all.
Make it happen: Successful innovation is about much more than technology. Forbes talks tactics.
Sycamores in spaaaaace: Dozens of trees around the world have been to the moon and back. The Atlantic branches out.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ 3D Glass Solutions, a New Mexico-based manufacturer of glass-based passive-radio frequency devices, raised an additional $4 million in an extended Series B1 funding round backed by Menlo Microsystems, Corning Inc. and Sun Mountain Capital.
+ Simcha Therapeutics, a Connecticut-based biotech developing cytokine-based cancer immunotherapies, raised $40 million in Series B funding led by SR One Capital Management, BVF Partners, Samsara BioCapital, Rock Springs Capital, ArrowMark Partners and Logos Capital.
+ The Vets, a Brooklyn-based pet-care technology platform, raised $40 million in seed funding led by Target Global, PICO Venture Partners and Bolt Ventures.
+ Certiverse, an Illinois-based online-exam systems provider, raised $2 million in seed financing backed by Zeal Capital Partners, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Angeles Investors and Hunt Holdings.
+ SparkCognition, a Texas-based artificial-intelligence business-software innovator, closed a $123 million Series D funding round backed by March Capital, Doha Venture Capital, B. Riley Venture Capital, AEI Horizon X, Temasek, Alan Howard and Peter Löscher.
+ Wisk Aero, the California-based developer of an all-electric, self-flying air taxi, secured $450 million in funding. The Boeing Co. made the investment.
BELOW THE FOLD
It doesn’t end well: The 1973 dystopian thriller “Soylent Green” is set in 2022.
Ready: You want to retire – but can you afford it?
Set: According to older movies set in 2022, this is going to be one tough year.
Go: Cooped-up American travelers are packing their bags as omicron fears fade.
Ready, set, Joe’s: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including St. Joseph’s College, where they are ready to set students on a path of responsibility and achievement. Check them out.
