Holy slowdown! Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and not just any Wednesday but the Wednesday before Easter Sunday – a.k.a. Holy Wednesday (when Judas conspired with the chief priests to betray Jesus), if Christianity is your thing, and either way the midpoint of one of the business year’s historically slowest weeks.
Whatever your spiritual persuasion, the innovation economy rolls on – and your favorite innovation newsletter is here to keep your socioeconomic eggs in the right basket.
Hollandaised and confused: It’s tasty for sure, but nobody’s sure exactly where eggs Benedict originated.
Sunny side up: Today is April 16 and we’re reordering things a bit to kick off this edition with the day’s top menu selection – a worthy tribute on National Eggs Benedict Day, honoring the breakfast favorite with a multitude of origin stories (none involving Benedict Arnold).
Now that you’ve filled your belly, feed your mind – it’s also National Librarian Day, applauding those who devote themselves to the library sciences and embrace the importance of education and enlightenment.
Plan ahead: Also embracing important things is National Healthcare Decisions Day, when we’re encouraged to have tough conversations about healthcare wishes through the end of life – especially important stuff these days, with the House of Representatives passing a budget resolution that cuts $880 billion from Medicaid and Medicare spending over the next decade.
And from the lighter side of life comes National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day, an April 16 tradition that’s no biggie if you’re remote (but might be a little trickier in the office).
Election knight: Certainly, Sir Isaac Newton wasn’t wearing his pajamas on this date in 1705, even though Great Britain’s Queen Anne showing up at Cambridge University and knighting Newton for his lifetime of scientific achievement was a surprise. (The spur-of-the-moment honor likely involved some House of Commons election trickery.)
Nonstop: Quimby’s flight into the history books lasted a little over one hour.
By sea, by air: A bit farther south (and two centuries later), American journalist-turned-aviator Harriett Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel on April 16, 1912.
High there: Speaking of historic trips, Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman accidentally consumed LSD-25 (a.k.a. lysergic acid diethylamide, a synthetic drug he created while researching lysergic acid compounds) 82 years ago today, and quickly discovered its hallucinogenic properties.
He reports, you decide: Doing anything but hallucinating was straight-arrow newsman Walter Cronkite, who personified an era when facts were reported by unbiased professionals – not opinions hammered by ratings-hungry cranks playing to skewed audiences – on this date in 1962, when he took over as anchor of the “CBS Evening News.”
GOAT: And it was April 16, 2003, when undisputed greatest-of-all-time basketball icon Michael Jordon played the final game of his illustrious National Basketball Association career.
Jordan hit his last-ever shot – a free throw – and put up 15 points for the Washington Wizards, calling it a career with 32,292 points, 6,672 rebounds, 5,633 assists and six NBA championships.
Quik thinking? Irish physician, naturalist, world traveler and unapologetic hoarder Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) – who bequeathed his 71,000-piece collection of books and artifacts to Britain, forming the backbone of the British Museum and the British Library, and may have invented chocolate milk – would be 365 years old today.
Sean who?: Barry Nelson was the first actor to bring Ian Fleming’s superspy to life when he played Bond — “Jimmy” Bond — in an American TV production of “Casino Royale.”
Also born on April 16 were Canadian Catholic nun Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart (born Esther Pariseau, 1823-1902), a seamstress, carpenter, painter, sculptor, blacksmith, farmer, watchmaker, locksmith, architect and mechanic who led her flock south to the U.S. Pacific Northwest; English comedian, actor, filmmaker and composer Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin (1889-1977), icon of the silent-film era; American inventor and industrialist Wilbur Wright (1867-1912), inseparable from brother Orville for their joint aeronautical achievements; American actor Barry Nelson (born Haakon Robert Nielsen, 1917-2007), who was – officially – the first to play James Bond; and American biochemist Marie Maynard Daly (1921-2003), the first African American woman to earn a PhD in chemistry.
Making her Denmark: And take a bow, Queen Margrethe II! The former Queen of Denmark (born Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid) – who succeeded her father, King Frederik IX, and occupied the throne for 52 years before abdicating in 2024 to her son, Crown Prince Frederik (ranking her the second-longest-reigning Danish monarch) – turns 85 today.
Give her royal highness your best at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips and calendar events always reign supreme.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Parole partners: A unique partnership between Adelphi University and a Brentwood-based nonprofit focused on incarcerated women and their families has received a big financial boost.
The M&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of M&T Bank, has awarded a two-year, $100,000 grant to support the Garden City-based university’s ongoing collaboration with New Hour Long Island, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the “successful re-entry and lasting reintegration” of jailed women into society and to reforming unfair criminal-justice system policies. The grant will support the Empowerment Through Employment: Adelphi University & New Hour LI Health Careers Program, which aims to enroll formerly incarcerated women in professional certificate courses offered by the university’s College of Professional and Continuing Studies.
Program participants are prepared for in-demand, middle-skill healthcare careers – nurse aides, EKG technicians and more – and receive career counseling, résumé coaching, job-search assistance and other professional-path benefits. “The M&T Charitable Foundation is proud to support organizations like Adelphi University that are dedicated to advancing equity and creating positive and lasting change,” noted foundation Executive Director Dominique Goss. “We look forward to seeing the progress of their work and the collective outcomes of our partnerships.”
Larger than life: SUNY Old Westbury is using 3D printing to put life’s miniscule building blocks in students’ hands.
Picture this: Biological building blocks like cells and organelles are taking shape – literally – in a new SUNY Old Westbury 3D-printing initiative.
Funded by a two-year, $199,912 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for STEM Education, the new project creates three-dimensional versions of biological molecules for use in laboratory lessons and student presentations. Officially titled Building Bridges: Pedagogical Enhancement of the Introductory Biological Sciences Courses as a Pathway to Mentored Research, the program is designed to enhance conceptual understanding, create open educational resources and even reduce textbook costs, according to SUNY Old Westbury.
The NSF grant will also fund a “summer research experience program” that aims to expose students to “mentored research,” according to the university, with up to 20 students working alongside faculty on deep dives into neuroscience, bioinformatics, microbial ecology and more. “The basic idea … is to really motivate students and get them excited very early on about learning basic core concepts that they will need for future courses,” noted Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Kinning Poon, the grant’s principal investigator. “We want to … start engaging them and preparing them as early as possible in aspects of research.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Putting the “pro” in protégés: Master innovator and longtime mentor Mitch Maiman, cofounder of Hauppauge-based Intelligent Product Solutions, highlights the importance of mentoring – to your mentee, your company, your industry and yourself.
Cast of thousands? Not quite – but the four-dozen-plus special guests who’ve graced “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” represent an amazing cross-section of innovation-economy leaders, each with a remarkable story to tell. Laugh a little, learn a lot.
VOICES
As generative AI rises in the workplace, so do its inherent risks, notes ZE Creative Communications Executive Vice President and Voices Media Anchor David Chauvin, who warns business leaders to think twice before handing the keys to loose-lipped chatbots.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Metal round: There’s lots of talk about “rare Earth metals” – but why are they so precious? Scientific American shows its metal.
Meddle round: Interference by cultural and organizational powers is stifling healthcare innovation – but it doesn’t have to. Forbes clears a path.
Medal round: Despite ongoing wars and his fascist fascination, a campaign to get Donald Trump that elusive Nobel Peace Prize is underway. Daily Express peaces out.
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.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ BRINC, a Washington State-based manufacturer of emergency response drones, raised $75 million in funding led by Index Ventures.
+ Remedy Scientific, a California-based environmental remediation pioneer, raised $11 million in Seed funding backed by Eclipse, Refactor, Cantos and Box Group.
+ Base Power, a Texas-based energy company focused on backup power systems, raised $200 million in Series B funding co-led by Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Valor Equity Partners.
+ Solu Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based biotech targeting cells that drive oncologic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, raised $41 million in Series A funding backed by Eli Lilly, Biovision Ventures, Pappas Capital, Hengdian Group Capital and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Therapy Acceleration Program.
+ Luzern Risk, a New York City-based captive insurance platform, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Caffeinated Capital.
+ SecondWave Systems, a Minneapolis-based clinical-stage medical device manufacturer focused on ultrasound stimulation, raised $7 million Series A funding led by Treo Ventures.
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). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Through The Ages Edition)
Past time: This IS your great-great-grandfather’s ballgame.
The old ball game: No gloves? Umpires in three-piece suits? The Old Bethpage Village Restoration revives old-timey “base ball.”
Nothing new: Science traces 50,000 years of inequality by reviewing prehistoric housing discrimination.
If it ain’t broke…: Modern technologies still can’t beat these five bygone inventions.
Tried and true: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano, where they always keep abreast of the latest legal developments – but they also know that nothing beats long experience. Check them out.
