Dramatic paws: Welcome back to our pet project, dear readers, as we collar creativity, let invention off the leash and bark up innovation’s tree, once again.
Yes, we’re wagging our way through another Wednesday – and soothing your dog days with some tasty innovation treats. Let’s fetch.
Free thought: Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union 31 years ago today.
No parades this year: We begin this Aug. 24 with Ukraine Independence Day, which honors the date in 1991 when the Ukrainian parliament declared its independence from the crumbling Soviet Union – and takes on a whole new meaning today.
Knives out: Here in the States, today is National Knife Day, unsheathed annually to celebrate one of humanity’s oldest tools.
And what better use for a knife than carving up a fresh pie? Have at it – Aug. 24 is also National Peach Pie Day.
Chips on their shoulders: If you’re thinking salty rather than sweet, you’re still in luck – the potato chip was invented (in a grumpy game of culinary one-upmanship) on Aug. 24, 1853.
According to the story, a difficult patron in a Saratoga restaurant complained about soggy potatoes, spurring a spiteful chef to slice the taters super-thin and fry them ultra-crispy – a sudden, surprise hit.
Flat-out terrific: Speaking of tasty innovations, the waffle iron was patented on this date in 1869 by New York inventor Cornelius Swartwout.
Motion sustained: And on the subject of prominent patents, titanic tinkerer Thomas Edison filed to protect his still-being-finalized motion-picture system – including the kinetograph (camera) and the kinetoscope (viewer) – on Aug. 24, 1891.
The long way: Earhart’s historic transcontinental flight took more than 19 hours.
Coast to coast: Other names you know associated with this date include pioneering aviatrix Amelia Earhart, who became the first woman pilot to fly nonstop across America – from Los Angeles to Newark, NJ – 90 years ago today.
Nyet! And the anti-Soviet North Atlantic Treaty Organization became a thing on Aug. 24, 1949, when the original NATO members began enforcing their charter.
Those original members – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States – are today joined by 18 other independent member countries.
Ship shape: American attorney and naval engineer William Francis Gibbs (1886-1967) – a foul-mouthed, introverted Columbia Law School graduate who became America’s greatest naval architect – would be 136 years old today.
Strong presence: McMahon (right) ruled with an iron fist.
Also born on Aug. 24 were larger-than-life English actor, comedian and musician Kenny Baker (1934-2016), who squeezed into the original R2-D2 and a host of major motion pictures; American mathematician Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck (born 1942), first to combine geometry and analysis; American gay-rights activist Marsha Johnson (born Malcolm Michaels Jr., 1945-1992), a transgender activist central to 1960s liberation movements; American baseball great Cal Ripken Jr. (born 1960), a true iron man; and Japanese videogame designer, writer and producer Hideo Kojima (born 1963), the unrivaled auteur who armed the “Metal Gear” franchise.
Mania: And take a bow, Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr.! The American professional wrestling promoter – who leveraged larger-than-life characters, movie-of-the-week melodrama and brilliant showmanship to pump professional wrestling into a major-league industry (before losing to his own ego) – turns 77 today.
Wish the face-turned-heel well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips take the title and your calendar events are always the main event.
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
Drop the weapon: If you come to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, South Shore University Hospital or Lenox Health Greenwich Village, don’t come packing.
The three Northwell Health hospitals (in New Hyde Park, Bay Shore and Manhattan, respectively) have installed comprehensive electronic detection systems that screen for weapons and contraband. Part of a larger effort to introduce new technologies to the massive health system, the Evolv Express – by Massachusetts-based weapons-free wunderkind Evolv Technology – provides “seamless walk-through” security at hospital entrances, monitored by Northwell security agents.
In addition to safeguarding patients, visitors and staff, the system is designed to avoid bottlenecking and otherwise streamline hospital entry – a considerate and well-designed tech from top to bottom, according to Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling. “The safety, security and wellbeing of our patients, visitors and team members are our top priorities,” Dowling said Tuesday, counting the high-tech screening – coming soon to other Northwell hospitals – as “part of Northwell’s broader safety and security efforts.”
Drink up: Westchester County’s New Croton Reservoir is a major supplier of New York City’s clean water.
And share alike: Regional conservationists are trumpeting a New York State Department of Health study confirming the feasibility of sharing New York City’s abundant water supply with Nassau County.
Released Aug. 18, the 57-page study – officially the New York City-Nassau County Water Supply Interconnection Feasibility Study – evaluated whether water-quality differences between Nassau’s troubled sole-source aquifer and NYC’s uncontaminated supply raise water-sharing concerns. For the record, the city’s upstate reservoir-fed aquifers enjoy a 200-million-gallon-per-day surplus, while Nassau consumes roughly 180 million gallons per day.
According to the study, the water-quality differences “would not prevent further consideration of supplying NYC water to Nassau County” – music to the ears of Long Island environmental boosters. The Long Island Association, the Association for A Better Long Island and Long Island Pure Water released an Aug. 18 joint statement praising the NYS Health Department’s findings and noting the three groups hope to “work alongside New York State to make this cost-effective water-sharing solution a reality and ensur[e] all of our residents and businesses … can benefit from sustainable drinking-water infrastructure.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 29: Andrew Parton, gaining altitude.
Andrew Parton’s major-league marketing experience – and childhood flights of fancy, fueled by “Star Trek” and real-life NASA missions – made him the perfect person to lead Garden City’s Cradle of Aviation Museum, where Long Island’s rich aeronautical history is celebrated with hands-on exhibits, vintage aircraft and real-life spaceships.
They also make him an outstanding addition to “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” – another great conversation from the regional innovation economy’s front lines (or slightly above them). Spread your wings!
TOP OF THE SITE
Threat detection: After sniffing out COVID, Applied DNA Sciences is putting its assay on the line against the rising monkeypox threat.
Do the math: Three Innovate Long Island newsletters per week, packed with inspirational genius … always easy, always free subscriptions … it all adds up!
VOICES
It’s time to eliminate minimum parking requirements – and set a few maximums – on over-paved Long Island, according to Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz Managing Member and Voices legal anchor Michael Sahn, who believes the region’s best sustainable future runs straight through parking-mandate reform.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Second breakfast: French toast sticks fly as Wendy’s battles Burger King for fast-food breakfast runner-up. Restaurant Business drives thru.
Changing up lunch: After killing it in the UK, the McDonald’s Chicken Big Mac is crossing the pond. CNN Business ruffles feathers.
(Global) warming your dinner: Five nutritious, drought-resistant crops that can survive climate change. The Guardian plants seeds.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Think Bioscience, a Colorado-based synthetic-biology company developing small-molecule therapeutics, raised $17 million in seed funding led by Innovation Endeavors, Xora Innovation, AV8 Ventures and Buff Gold Ventures.
+ Bevi, a Massachusetts-based developer of smart water coolers, raised $70 million in Series D funding. Cowen Sustainable Investments made the investment.
+ Flossy, a California-based dental-care solutions provider, raised $14.7 million in Series A funding led by TV Capital, with participation from the founders of Carbon Health, Flatiron Health, Modern Animal, FabFitFun, GOAT and Tradesy.
+ Aceiss, a Connecticut-based cybersecurity provider, raised $3.25 million in seed funding led by Canaan, Insight Partners and Connecticut Innovations.
+ Naborforce, a Virginia-based elder-tech company, closed a $9 million Series A financing round led by Translink Capital.
+ Insomnia Labs, a New York City-based Web3 advertising & technology company, raised $1.5 million in funding. Backers included Polygon, Animoca Brands, Eden Ventures, HBJ Investments and Concept Art House.
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 (It’s All In Your Head Edition)
Flour power: The touch, smells and repetitive motions of baking are all soothing, according to science.
Depressing development: Assessing students’ back-to-school mentality.
App-propriate: The best mental-health apps for busy executives.
Knead to relax: Why baking can be great therapy.
Brain matter: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the New York Institute of Technology, where innovative mental development matters most. Check them out.
