Break it gently: Welcome to Wednesday, intrepid innovators, as we speed through another springtime workweek and straight toward a blessed holiday break.
On that note, this quick scheduling reminder: Innovate Long Island is planning an extra-long Memorial Day weekend, so no newsletters this coming Friday or Monday. Back at you with new awesomesauce on May 30 – including the anticipated return of one of our most popular features (more below).
Keep it clean: More scavenging, less slapstick on National Scavenger Hunt Day.
In search of: Here on May 24, we kick things off with National Scavenger Hunt Day, promoting teamwork, ingenuity and a dash of whimsy.
We also wrap our brains around World Schizophrenia Awareness Day, an annual attempt to correct awful media stereotypes about the dreaded mental disorder.
Adventure eaters unite: Other terrible and largely misdirected reputations are challenged on May 24 by National Asparagus Day (praising the underappreciated perennial) and National Escargot Day (celebrating the snail).
Biblical breakthrough: Enjoying an excellent reputation was inventor Samuel Morse, who quoted the Book of Numbers (“What hath God wrought?”) when he dictated the first telegraph message, sent from Washington to Baltimore on this date in 1844.
Olden arches: The Westminster Bridge still helps cars and pedestrians cross the River Thames.
Bridge work: Also making new connections was London’s Westminster Bridge, which opened on May 24, 1862, and is still carrying vehicles and pedestrians today.
Brooklyn net: Not to be outdone was the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the world’s longest suspension bridge when it opened 140 years ago today.
Meter reader: Wherever you’re driving off to, make sure you feed the meter when you get there – you can thank Oklahoma inventor Carl McGee, who patented the coin-operated parking meter on this date in 1938.
United they press: And it was May 24, 1958, when United Press and the International News Service merged to form United Press International.
The mighty multinational press service – which boasted 5,000 subscribers, including 1,000 international newspapers – launched the world’s first wire-service radio network later that year.
Candy man can: American inventor and entrepreneur Harry Burnett Reese (1879-1956) – who founded the H.B. Reese Candy Co. and created America’s all-time bestselling candy brand – would be 144 years old today.
“Cowboy” diplomacy: Anime auteur Watanabe.
Also born on May 24 were German Dutch physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), known for his degrees of separation; Mexican American botanist Ynés Enriquetta Julietta Mexía (1870-1938), a late starter who became the most accomplished woman botanist of her day; American cardiologist Helen Brooke Taussig (1898-1986), who founded pediatric cardiology; American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, 1941), counted among history’s greatest storytellers; and famed Japanese anime filmmaker Shinichirō Watanabe (born 1965), who created “Cowboy Bebop.”
Amazing adventures: And take a bow, Michael Chabon! The American novelist, screenwriter and essayist – who’s explored everything from Jewish heritage to superheroes to “Star Trek” – turns 60 today.
Wish the Pulitzer Prize-winner well at editor@innovateli.com, where Kavalier, Clay and everyone else are encouraged to also share news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: The Long Island Business Development Council has helped build the regional economy for 54 years by bringing together government economic development officials, developers, financial experts and others for education, debate and networking.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Polls are open now: Little Lucas Zhang’s awesome art will grace the Google homepage, if voters step up.
Drawn in: A Long Island art student is in the running to have his custom artwork featured on the Google homepage.
A drawing by Lucas Zhang, a student of the Williston Park-based Mrs. Zhou Art Studio, was among 55 U.S. State and territory winners selected from tens of thousands of submissions to the 15th annual Doodle for Google contest. The young artist – whose colorful creation depicts a vibrant landscape with several wild animals contorted into the familiar Google logo – earns Google swag and a spot in the Doodle for Google Gallery, and is in the running for a national grand prize including a $30,000 college scholarship, a $50,000 technology package for his school and other prizes (national voting open now).
Best of all, the grand-prize winner will have his or her doodle featured for 24 hours on Google.com, among the Internet’s most heavily trafficked URLs – though even that honor seems less important to New York’s K-3 Group winner, who’s most interested in hitting the contest’s “I Am Grateful For…” target. “I am grateful for people who protect wild animals,” Lucas said in a statement.
Eyeballing it: A cutting-edge technology designed to perfect a patient’s sight after cataract surgery is opening eyes across Northwell Health.
According to California-based med-tech innovator RxSight, only six in 10 patients achieve their target vision after the removal of cataracts (cloudy spots blurring the eye lens). Enter the Light Adjustable Lens, RxSight’s innovative intraocular solution; yes, “intraocular” means “implanted in the eyeball,” but don’t be squeamish – the LAL’s unique material works with UV light treatments to detect small variations during the cataract-surgery healing process, and can be adjusted to correct even the tiniest nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.
The new cataract-recovery development is now available at the Peconic Bay Medical Center, the Syosset Surgical Center and other Northwell Health facilities. “Small variations in healing happen in most eyes,” noted Scott Sheren, director of ophthalmology at the Northwell Health Eye Institute at Riverhead. “This lens is amazing because you can adjust its shape and thus its power in the eye … without the use of a laser or conventional surgery.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 32: Kevin Tracey, nerve and protect.
Your frantic days, sleepless nights and unquenchable thirst for frontline perspective will be soothed soon, brave listeners – Season 4 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast drops May 31!
Fill the last-gasp gap with some of your favorites – or a great conversation you missed – from Seasons 1-3. Dozens of educational and entertaining innovation introspections standing by right now!
TOP OF THE SITE
Welcome to the neighborhood: With protests aplenty and billions on the table, Nassau legislators have granted Las Vegas Sands its coveted Uniondale lease.
Got a Crushie on you: Long Island brewers, marketers and graphic designers stepped up their game in the fourth-annual Craft Beer Marketing Awards.
Free, easy and kinda the right thing to do: Thanks for sharing this awesome newsletter with your innovative friends, and please remember to subscribe. Them, too.
VOICES
Artificial intelligence-powered technologies like ChatGPT are coming for a lot of jobs – but critical communications positions should be the last to go, according to ZE Creative Communications Executive Vice President and Voices Media Anchor David Chauvin, who believes the human touch still sets apart top-level PR and marketing.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Lap it up: Luxury goods are booming, and you won’t believe why. Vox goes top shelf.
Out there: The CDC’s real-life zombie apocalypse, and other tales from the fringe of American medicine. Popular Science freaks out a little.
What do we have to do to put you in this car today? Hmmm … is Memorial Day really the best time to buy a car? Money considers the options.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Kelvin, a New York City-based HVAC specialist providing decarbonized solutions for legacy buildings, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by 2150, the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Partnership Fund for NYC.
+ PartsTech, a Massachusetts-based auto-repair industry marketplace, raised $35 million in Series C funding led by OpenView, Insight Partners and BP Ventures.
+ Myeloid Therapeutics, a California-based clinical stage mRNA-immunotherapy innovator, raised $73 million in funding led by Hatteras Investment Partners, ARCH Venture Partners and Moore Strategic Ventures.
+ Paradromics, a Texas-based brain/computer interface innovator, raised $33 million in funding led by Prime Movers Lab, Westcott Investment Group, Dolby Family Ventures and Green Sands Equity.
+ Glowforge, a Washington State-based 3D laser printer manufacturer, raised an additional $20 million in Series E funding led by DFJ Growth, Foundry Group, Revolution Growth and True Ventures.
+ Gradiant, a Massachusetts-based advanced water and wastewater-treatment solutions provider, raised $225 million in Series D funding led by BoltRock Holdings and Centaurus Capital.
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 the LIBDC). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Swimsuit Edition)
Fast, furious: Speedo’s LZR Racer swimsuit enraged the World Aquatics international federation.
Genuine article: No plastic, no Photoshop – just 81-year-old Martha.
Top speedo: Science created a swimming super-suit so effective it was banned.
Cover story: Rereading the 1964 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue that started it all.
In the swim: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Long Island Business Development Council, which has influenced the regional socioeconomic tide for more than half a century. Check them out.
