Thinking fast: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as January gets its money’s worth – this is its fifth Wednesday, for those keeping score, and there are still two days to go.
The first month of 2025 might be taking its time, but innovation is progressing at ludicrous speed – good thing you’ve got this quick-witted newsletter to keep it all straight. Buckle up!
Eye witness: Thank a guide dog today.
Thinking about it: A fifth Wednesday with two days left in the year’s first month makes today Jan. 29, according to inescapable logic – the mind and soul of Freethinkers Day, which resists arbitrary authority, questions the status quo and constructs rational arguments against ingrained behaviors. (Why Jan. 29? Read on.)
Also seeing things as they truly are is National Seeing Eye Dog Day, an annual homage to the sight-impaired’s best friend.
Thinking caps: You’ll need yours on National Puzzle Day, challenging us to solve the crosswords, jigsaws and other mental mysteries – games or otherwise – that vex us.
Alas, all these cerebral gymnastics don’t generate much of a culinary reward – the best we could find was National Corn Chip Day, a Fritos-for-all crunching and munching every Jan. 29.
New York City: He was born in Boston and he’s buried in Baltimore, but Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” debuted on this date in 1845 in Big Apple tabloid The New York Evening Mirror, marking the revered poet’s publishing debut.
Kansas City: The love-’em or hate-’em Kansas City Chiefs actually play their home games in Missouri – nonetheless, Kansas became the 34th State admitted to the Union on Jan. 29, 1861.
Berlin: That was the location of Germany’s Imperial Patent Office, which patented automotive giant Karl Benz’s “Motorwagen” – recorded as the first gasoline-powered automobile – 139 years ago today.
Chicago: Radiation therapy became a thing on this date in 1896, when researcher Emil Grubbe – a student at the Windy City’s Hahnemann Medical College – used X-rays to treat a patient with recurrent breast carcinoma.
They got you, Babe: The immortal Babe Ruth headlined the first cohort inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Cooperstown to Canton: And it was Jan. 29, 1936, when the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Upstate New York inducted its first five members: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner.
In a coincidence of pigskin proportions, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Ohio announced its first 17 members – including Red Grange, Curly Lambeau, Bronko Nagurski and other famous players, executives and coaches – on this date in 1963.
Chekhov’s gun: Russian playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) – an acclaimed master of his craft who kept the plots simple but dug deep into character motivation (and never wasted a story element) – would be 165 years old today.
O yeah: Winfrey still ranks among the world’s wealthiest and most powerful women.
Also born on Jan. 29 were English American writer, political philosopher and Founding Father Thomas Paine (1737-1809), a bona fide free-thinker (see what we did there?) whose “Common Sense” pamphlet provided one of the American Revolution’s brightest sparks; 25th U.S. President William McKinley (1843-1901), who’s becoming a mountainous namesake once again; American financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874-1960), who developed Rockefeller Center and donated a half-billion dollars-plus to religion, education, conservation and various museums; Canadian American chemical engineer Lewis Urry (1927-2004), who powered the future by inventing both the alkaline battery and the lithium battery; and American actor Thomas William Selleck (born 1945), who was almost Indy – but discovered gold as Magnum.
Beloved: And take a bow, Oprah Gail Winfrey! The American actress, multimedia producer, author and television personality – whose $3 billion net worth ranks her among the world’s top-1,200 richest people – turns 71 today.
Wish the media/business empress well at editor@innovateli.com, where all the talk is about your news tips – and we always Harp-o on your calendar events.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Water in the works: More than $11 million in state grants is flowing to Long Island through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corp.’s latest water-infrastructure funding round.
Some $273 million in grants and interest-free loans, benefitting 19 distinct water-infrastructure projects across the state, were approved for this round, announced Jan. 23 by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. That includes $5 million for the Westbury Water District, which is installing granular-activated carbon adsorption vessels (ideal for treating perfluorooctanoic and perfluorooctanoic acids) in two village wells; $5 million for the Port Washington Water District, which is constructing a similar PFOA and PFOS treatment system; and $1.4 million for the Greenlawn Water District, which is targeting the volatile organic contaminant trichloroethene in the hamlet’s waterworks.
The round was bookended by a $62.2 million package (combining grants and loans) for the Buffalo Sewer Authority, which is upgrading the Bird Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, and $587,160 for Ontario County’s Town of Phelps, which is extending public water services to 25 properties currently relying on private wells. “Healthy communities are strong communities,” noted Environmental Facilities Corp. President and CEO Maureen Coleman. “That’s why it’s so important to invest in modern, resilient water infrastructure.”
Brains of the operation: Stony Brook University scientist Sean Clouston and colleagues have uncovered a vital clue in Alzheimer’s disease cases among 9/11 first responders.
Still responding: More than two decades after the devastating 9/11 terrorist attacks, Stony Brook University researchers may have discovered a link between Ground Zero exposure and Alzheimer’s disease.
Published online in late 2024 by the multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, a brain-imaging study led by Renaissance School of Medicine Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine Professor Sean Clouston indicates a link between long-term Ground Zero exposure and the presence of amyloid – a fibrous, extracellular protein – in the brain. Abnormal deposits of amyloid are associated with numerous diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
The three-year study involved cerebral scans of 35 WTC responders (26 men and nine women) with an average age of 56 years – 17 of whom have displayed cognitive impairment based on standard tests – and differentiated responders who worked for months at Ground Zero without wearing a mask. Larger studies and additional brain scans are planned, but according to co-author Benjamin Luft, the Renaissance School’s Edmund D. Pellegrino Professor of Medicine and director of the Stony Brook WTC Health and Wellness Program, the big takeaway so far is that “the presence of amyloid was associated with cognitive impairment.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Commercial message: The Debrief, Innovate Long Island’s comprehensive Q&A feature, returns with freshly minted Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island President Ralph Benzakein, who shares his deepest concerns – and highest hopes – for the regional real estate sector.
Amazing cast: The next engaging episode of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is on the way – before it arrives, catch up with the presidents of Bethpage Federal Credit Union and the New York Institute of Technology, plus dozens of other amazing guests sharing their success secrets and highest hopes. Loads of insights and inspiration, standing by.
VOICES
Rapid-fire developments in healthcare, media, law, social services, technology and other sectors critical to your personal and professional development are coming at a blistering pace … if only a group of dedicated experts had your back, offering frontline access to their unique perspectives and smartest advice.
Waitaminute … that’s exactly what Innovate Long Island’s deep and detailed Voices library is all about: innovation economy leaders, hot-button topics and best-practice solutions. Take you to our leaders!
Something to say? Welcome to The Entrepreneur’s Edge, Innovate Long Island’s new promoted-content news feature platform – a direct link from you to our innovation-focused audience. Progressive product to promote? Singular service to sell? Sociopolitical position to push? Shine a bright light on the big picture, the little details and everything in between with The Entrepreneur’s Edge. Living on the edge.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Rumbly tummy: Why stomach bugs are so prevalent this season, and what to do about it. U.S. News and World Report shows intestinal fortitude.
Incremental increase: Big Pharma has hiked prices on hundreds of name-brand drugs – but not as much as some other years. NPR compares costs.
Going viral: Welcome to the “quad-demic,” as multiple ailments surge across the nation. Forbes takes a sick day.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Men in Blazers Media Network, a New York City-based soccer-focused media network, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Avenue Sports Fund, Bolt Ventures, RR McReynolds, The Chernin Group, Ryan Sports Ventures and Wheelhouse.
+ Elucent Medical, a Minnesota-based med-tech focused on state-of-the-art surgical navigation, received $30 million in growth financing from Trinity Capital.
+ Kaya AI, a NYC-based construction supply-chain intelligence platform, raised $5.3 million in Pre-Seed funding led by 53 Stations, Suffolk Technologies and Soma Capital.
+ Eleos, a Massachusetts-based artificial intelligence platform for behavioral health, raised $60 million in Series C Funding led by Greenfield Partners.
+ Bedrock Energy, a Texas-based startup leveraging geothermal heating and cooling technologies, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Titanium Ventures.
+ Axoflow, a Connecticut-based cybersecurity startup, raised $7 million in Seed funding led by EBRD Venture 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 Brandtelling and Boch Creative). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Around The World Edition)
Walk like a Scandinavian: Or ride, or do whatever … the important things are looking and feeling great.
From Russia, with love: Why Putin is flattering Trump.
From Greenland, with solidarity: The EU unites to protect inviolable borders.
From Norway, with style: Can chic Nordic fashion actually make you happier?
A world of opportunity: Please continue supporting the amazing agencies that support Innovate Long Island, including Brandtelling, which is joining with Boch Creative to present the intensive, innovative Brand Building Bootcamp – a March marathon designed to give your brand global appeal. Check it out.
