Wave as you go by: Welcome to Wednesday, red-hots, as we sweat out the summer’s first big-time heatwave – but proceed, undaunted, on our super-cool mission of inventive socioeconomic progress.
It’s too hot to talk, so let’s just innovate.
Flame on: The grill of victory on National Hot Dog Day.
Hot diggity dog: It’s a hot and humid July 20 on Long Island, and by all reasonable measures, summer peaks today – National Hot Dog Day, always sizzling the third Wednesday of July.
Chase that mustard-and-onion foot-long with another childhood favorite: Today is also National Lollipop Day, all-day-sucking every July 20.
You will learn something new today: That’s because July 20 is also National Fortune Cookie Day, celebrating the Chinese food staple that was invented in America by a Japanese businessman.
Board meeting: They certainly didn’t order out for Chinese when the World Chess Federation held its first meeting on this date in 1924 in Paris.
Today, the federation – known better as the International Chess Federation, or FIDE, for the French Fédération Internationale des Échecs – manages hundreds of global tournaments and ranks thousands of international masters.
On point: Members of The Guinea Pig Club convene (and convalesce) over a game of darts.
All together now: They likely played a few games of chess in The Guinea Pig Club, a famous social/mutual support club for British and allied airmen injured during World War II, which first came together on July 20, 1941.
But no cigar: A crucial WWII injury was unfortunately avoided on July 20, 1944, when the July Plot – real cloak-and-dagger stuff involving secret meetings and hidden briefcase bombs – just missed Hitler.
Special bulletin: Over on the other side of humanity, the Special Olympics became a thing on this date in 1968, when the long-awaited opening ceremony of the first-ever games graced Chicago’s Soldier Field.
Kinda Buzzed: And it was July 20, 1969, when American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the lunar module Eagle and took humanity’s first stroll on the surface of the moon.
Mountain man: New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (1919-2008) – who joined Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay as the first climbers confirmed to summit Mount Everest – would be 103 years old today.
Guitar hero: Santana, supernatural.
Also born on July 20 were German pathologist Julius Cohnheim (1839-1884), who was really morbid; English physician Sir Thomas Allbutt (1836-1925), a one-time commissioner of lunacy who invented the clinical thermometer; Scottish broadcasting executive Sir John Reith (1889-1971), who infused the BBC with an indelible spirit of independent public service; American business magnate Michael Ilitch Sr. (1929-2017), a once-in-a-generation entrepreneur who founded Little Caesars Pizza (and wound up owning two professional sports franchises); and cherished American writer Cormac McCarthy (born 1933), a novelist and screenwriter known best for his westerns and post-apocalyptic fiction.
Oye Como Va: And take a bow, Carlos Santana! Born Carlos Augusto Santana Alves, the beloved American guitarist – who filled his trophy case with Grammys by fusing rock and Latin American jazz – turns 75 today.
Wish the all-time shredder well at editor@innovateli.com, where we don’t require a Soul Sacrifice – a few Smooth news tips will be fine, and calendar events always Put [Our] Lights On, even if you’re a Black Magic Woman (or especially).
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
Add to cart: Amazon Fresh has finally opened in Oceanside, marking the first of the e-retail giant’s next-generation supermarkets to bow in New York.
The store – and a sister market opening this week in Paramus, NJ, the first New Jersey Amazon Fresh – features Amazon’s Just Walk Out payment system, which uses machine learning, computer-vision and advanced scanning technologies to determine what’s in customers’ carts and charges them accordingly. Customers can bag their groceries as they go and pay at a self-service kiosk with a credit card or cash; they can also use the Amazon app or SNAP benefits, if eligible.
The 47,000-square-foot Oceanside market succeeds a defunct Waldbaum’s supermarket and the July 14 opening – coinciding with Amazon’s Prime Day shop-a-thon – will trigger a quick expansion across Long Island (Newsday reports that Amazon is planning additional Amazon Freshes in Plainview and East Setauket). And while checkout clerks may be passé, the new markets should provide a regional jobs boost – Seattle-based Amazon promises “hundreds of high-quality jobs with a starting wage of $16.45/hour” at the Oceanside store alone.
See something, say something: Albany is stepping up its shark-spotter patrols.
Duunn duunn … duuuunnnn duuuunnnn … dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun: Following multiple “encounters” off the South Shore, Albany is increasing its shark-spotter and shark-safety public-education efforts.
Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday directed the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Police to “implement heightened patrols and surveillance of shark activity,” according to the governor’s office. The toothier protocols include boat, drone and helicopter monitoring along Long Island state park beaches and the digital distribution of “outreach materials” promoting shark-safety education (among the tips: Don’t swim with seals).
The state will also “[bolster] federal, state, county and local partnerships to share resources and information” about shark sightings and possible species identifications, following multiple shark attacks this month in Long Island ocean waters. “We are taking action to expand patrols for sharks and protect beachgoers from potentially dangerous situations,” Hochul noted. “I encourage all New Yorkers to … take precautions to help ensure safe and responsible beach trips this summer.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 26: Paule Pachter
Episode 25: Robert Catell.
Season 3 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is off to a fast start, with regional energy icon Robert Catell and Long Island Cares-The Harry Chapin Food Bank CEO Paule Pachter setting a very high bar.
Catch up quick – another engaging first-run episode drops next week!
TOP OF THE SITE
Listen up: Acoustic gunshot detection/alert system ShotSpotter is returning to Suffolk County new and improved, thanks to Smithtown innovator MIDI Product Development.
Word up: Help us help you – the more subscriptions we get to this brilliantly worded (and super-informative) newsletter, the longer we can keep it going. Tell your friends.
VOICES
Voices historian Tom Mariner, executive director of Bayport-based Long Island Bio, animates our brilliant Voices library by drawing a line from Disney’s earliest cartoon shorts to the hyper-realistic graphics of modern videogames and movies – a line that runs straight through Long Island
STUFF WE’RE READING
Focal point: Explaining the “everything-is-weird economy” in three easy steps. The Atlantic zeroes in.
Tipping point: Electric vehicles have reached an important milestone on the road to mass adoption. Morning Brew powers up.
Breaking point: Manchin’s climate sabotage is a dire sign for the environment and American democracy. The New Republic lashes out.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Humanity Health, a New York City-based career-acceleration and talent-sourcing platform for underrepresented life-science leaders, raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Jumpstart Nova and Deerfield Management.
+ Monolith, a Nebraska-based clean hydrogen, carbon black and ammonia innovator, raised $300 million-plus in funding led by TPG Rise Climate and Decarbonization Partners, with participation from NextEra Energy Resources, SK, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America and Azimuth Capital Management.
+ Blue Ocean Barns, a Hawaii-based agtech, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Valor Siren Ventures, with participation from Tao Capital Partners and strategic investors.
+ Merlin Labs, a Massachusetts-based developer of autonomous flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft, raised $105 million in Series B funding led by Snowpoint and Baillie Gifford, with participation by existing investor GV.
+ Terra CO2 Technology, the Colorado-based manufacturer of a low-carbon cement alternative, raised $46 million in Series A funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, LENx and BEV, with participation from Lennar, Creative Ventures and Rio Tinto.
+ Fort Robotics, a Pennsylvania-based smart-machines communications pioneer, closed a $25 million Series B funding led by Tiger Global, with participation from Prologis.
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 Sahn Ward). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (You Clean Up Nice Edition)
Don’t go there: Yet another Q conspiracy.
Clean conscience: The surprising psychological benefits of washing your hands.
Shower with praise: “Smart showers” add high-tech to hygiene.
Deep trouble: Behold, the hidden terror of the Q-tip.
Spotless record: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Sahn Ward, a clean-sweep winner in corporate, environmental and land-use law. Check them out.
