Silver linings: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and to June, and to the start of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season, forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to be “above normal.” Place your bets.
Storm warning: Long Island could see above-average tropical action this season.
The good news is you’re already halfway through this latest late-spring workweek, and we’re here to … well, to rock you like a hurricane. Let’s innovate!
If you don’t have anything nice to say…: Then you’ll have a dreadful time on National Say Something Nice Day, when we’re encouraged to spread good words.
Anything you can do…: June 1 is also National Dare Day, an annual test of physicality and/or courage often requiring physical and/or figurative leaps of faith. Responsible celebrating, please.
And it’s Flip a Coin Day, all about trusting in fate and the universe. Remember – good vibes!
Rally killer: Give it up for James Lawrence.
Worth a shot: Among those bringing the immortal positivity today is/was U.S. Navy Capt. James Lawrence of the USS Chesapeake, who thundered out the historic command “Don’t give up the ship!” on this date in 1813, during a brutal War of 1812 skirmish with the HMS Shannon.
For those keeping score, Lawrence was killed and his men gave up the ship.
Also worth a shot: Also thinking good thoughts was Thomas Edison, who scored his first-ever patent on June 1, 1869 – a voting machine for congressional delegates. (For the record, it failed spectacularly).
It’s your dime: Enjoying more success were payphones, which became a thing on this date in 1880 in the New Haven office of the Connecticut Telephone Co.
No static at all: Frequency modulation (FM) radio – as opposed to amplitude modulation (AM) radio, all about encoding audio signals on carrier frequencies – invaded U.S. airwaves 61 years ago today.
Lights out: And the Czech Republic became the first country to enact a national light-pollution law on this date in 2002.
The law requires citizens and organizations to eliminate light pollution – specifically, “artificial light which is dispersed outside the areas it is dedicated to, particularly if directed above the level of the horizon” – with hefty fines awaiting scofflaws.
Forever Young: American religious leader Brigham Young (1801-1877) – who led the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints straight to Salt Lake City, where things were dicey – would be 221 years old today.
Good “Company”: Children’s television jumpstarted Morgan Freeman’s legendary career.
Also born on June 1 were American businessmen Francis (1849-1913) and Freelan Stanley (1849-1940), who cofounded the influential Stanley Motor Carriage Co.; German-American psychologist Hugo Münsterberg (1863-1916), who applied psychology to law, business, education and much more; English engineer and inventor Sir Frank Whittle (1907-1996), the RAF officer who invented the turbojet engine; American actress, singer and model Norma Jeane Mortenson (1926-1962), known best as Marilyn Monroe; and Hollywood icon Morgan Freeman (born 1937), who once powered “The Electric Company,” among a zillion other gigs.
Man and Spider-Man: And take a bow, Thomas Stanley Holland! The English actor – who can do that creepy British thing with the frighteningly accurate American accents and also (kinda) holds a world record – turns 26 today.
Give the heroic Peter Parker your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we marvel at your news tips and your calendar events really spin our webs. ’Nuff said, true believers!
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Your showcase of shows: A leading engine of Long Island commercialization will show off its most impressive cogs next week.
Stony Brook University’s Department of Economic Development is slated to host its 2022 Incubator Showcase June 8, filling the conference rooms and corridors of the Center of Excellent in Wireless and Information Technology with 60-plus company exhibits – each highlighting an SBU-based startup focused on biotechnology, energy, IT, food and other critical industries. Each showcase company is also being nurtured in some way by SBU’s vast commercialization ecosystem, with most benefitting from space and services provided by one of the university’s business incubators or Centers of Excellence.
The event – which also features copious networking with entrepreneurs and business investors – is free to attend, but pre-registration is required. “The Incubator Showcase demonstrates what (Stony Brook) Economic Development does well – building an entrepreneurial culture that will eventually support the business ecosystem here on Long Island,” Peter Donnelly, SBU’s associate vice president for technology partnerships, told Innovate Long Island. “The showcase welcomes investors, government officials, university leadership and community members to meet the companies in our incubators and see what innovation they are bringing to the marketplace.”
Center stage: Wednesday in the park at the Stony Brook Village Center. (Image: EarthCam)
Live from Stony Brook, it’s … Stony Brook!: From the Department of People Watching comes an innovative look at Stony Brook Village Center – two of them, in fact.
EarthCam, a self-proclaimed global leader in webcam content and services, has partnered with the Village Center to stream two live, all-weather video feeds of the shopping/dining oasis, situated across Main Street from Stony Brook Harbor. Camera One peers across the Jennie Melville Village Green to the Hercules Pavilion and the harbor waters beyond; Camera Two sweeps across the Village Green for a view of the Stony Brook Post Office, which abuts the Village Center’s shops and restaurants to form what EarthCam calls “a hub of community activity.”
The video feeds, both found here, are intended primarily as free “B roll” for news broadcasts and may not be rebroadcasted on private or public pages – though individual viewers are welcome to tune in anytime. Founded in 1996, New Jersey-based EarthCam adds Stony Brook to its growing multinational menu of live looks, which already includes such well-known domestic locales as Times Square, Miami Beach and New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, with international peeks at the famous Temple Bar pub in Dublin, Ireland, and London’s Abbey Road, among other global hotspots.
TOP OF THE SITE
If at first you succeed: The New York State Department of Health has reinvested millions in the Stony Brook Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Senior partners: Long Island Cares-The Harry Chapin Food Bank needs allies in its fight against senior citizen food insecurity, according to CEO Paule Pachter.
Love note: We love writing this newsletter, you love reading it – don’t you think your entire innovation team should feel the warm fuzzies, too? Individual subscriptions are always easy, always free.
VOICES
When it comes to important land-use decisions, public hearings have lost their way and now do more harm than good, according to Voices legal anchor Michael Sahn. Fortunately, the Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz managing member has some interesting ideas about strengthening the public-hearing process.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Inside, outside: Completely different worlds inside and outside the NRA convention. Reuters takes aim.
Inside out: “Outside the box” is the wrong approach to innovation. Forbes breaks out.
Outside in: Behold, the best outdoor products of Summer 2022. Gear Patrol checks in.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Parallel Learning, a New York City-based digital health platform providing psychological services for students with learning differences, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Tiger Global, Obvious Ventures, Barry Sternlich’s JAWS and Vine Ventures.
+ Mainspring Energy, a California-based onsite power provider, raised $150 million-plus in Series E funding led by Lightrock, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Fine Structure Ventures, Princeville Capital and Lineage Ventures.
+ ShardSecure, a NYC-based cloud-cybersecurity company, raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Grotech Ventures, Gula Tech Adventures, KPMG LLP and existing investors Tom Noonan, EPIC Ventures and Industrifonden.
+ SparkCharge, a Massachusetts-based mobile EV-charging network, raised $23 million in Series A funding co-led by Tale Venture Partners and Pendulum, with participation from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, the Mark Cuban Companies, Silicon Valley Bank, Pusha-T and Summer Watson.
+ Targan, a North Carolina-based biotech focused on individualized care in the poultry, aquaculture and swine industries, raised $35 million in Series C financing led by Mountain Group Partners, NovaQuest Capital Management, Merck Animal Health and Oval Park Capital.
+ Indigov, a Washington-based constituent-services platform for public officials, raised $25 million in Series B financing led by Tusk Venture Partners, 8VC, Wicklow Capital and Valor Equity Partners.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask New York Tech). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (To Your Health Edition)
Same, but different: News flash — women’s bodies have specific healthcare needs.
Herb time: Preserving Appalachia’s healing-plant history.
Go time: The ideal time of day to exercise? That depends on you.
About time: FemTech is finally bringing women’s health into focus.
Time check: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the New York Institute of Technology, where there’s no better time than right now to discover your best self. Check them out.
