Magnitude and Direction — Issue #177
Reinventing the wheel, robo-dentists, and the future of music stardom
Welcome to the latest installment of my bi-weekly newsletter, covering some of my favorite new developments in the fields of biotech, data science, engineering, and more. If this is your first issue, it's great to have you! For everyone else, thanks for coming back!
If you like this email, forward it to a friend (I can't encourage this enough) and if you're seeing it for the first time, subscribe here to get it regularly. As always, if you come across something cool you'd like to share, send me a note.
Notes
Between the drought conditions and unseasonably warm weather, it didn’t really feel like we were in spitting distance of the heart of the holiday season, so even if the weather in NYC these past two days has been pretty miserable, I’m at least glad that: (1) everything isn’t on fire anymore and (2) it’s sweater weather at last.
This edition’s font is called Megrim.
Jobs
Innovation Funding Manager
The University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) is seeking a qualified Innovation Funding Manager to support one or more of the new funding programs they are bringing online to support technology development within the university and UPMC health system. 3-5 years of experience in the innovation and/or business development space is required, with preference towards an advanced degree. A 100% virtual setting for this position will be considered, so you need not relocate to Pittsburgh.
Learn more about the role and how to apply here.
Hardware, Prototyping, and Fabrication
📸🚗 Modern cars are frequently cited as one of the most significant pieces of surveillance tech in our lives, and that surveillance often extends to the infrastructure that supports them, as open-source project DeFlock highlights.
🛠️ I love when I'm reminded that the design studio CW&T exists...
🛞 Maybe we should reinvent the wheel...
Software and Programming
🤖💻 More than a quarter of Google’s newest code was written by AI (that feels concerningly high…)
🧑💻 No one ever wants to be on the receiving end of a hack, but learning a bit about how to do it yourself can go a long way towards preventing the next one.
🤳📈📉💹 Now that Donald Trump is returning to the Presidency, maybe it’s time to resurrect this GitHub repo…
Science, Engineering, and Biomedicine
📷 These are the most expensive photographs ever taken.
🥁 Scientists have made the first mechanical qbit, and it's similar to a drum skin that's both vibrating and still (aka, the state of a drum head when you ask a drummer to stop playing)
🦷 The (robot) dentist will see you now...
Mapping, History, and Data Science
🏗️ These days, Robert Moses is largely regarded as a negative and malicious presence upon the historical tapestry of New York, but professor Kenneth T. Jackson takes a somewhat difference stance on the legacy of the Great Builder.
🗳️ We're still very much "living within the context" of the recent election, so here's how more demographic slices than you could possibly imagine voted in it. (Maybe the single most interesting data point in this data set is the one that suggests people who prefer the Godfather, Part II over the Godfather were more likely to vote for Harris.)
🎶 Is music stardom on the decline? (For Mouthy Baby's sake, I hope not)
Events and Opportunities
h/t fellow newsletter-writer Yasmeen Patty for sharing many of the listings featured today!
Thursday, 12/5 Accelerating BioVenture Innovation Final Pitch Event. Accelerating BioVenture Innovation (ABI) is a 15-week graduate-level course in entrepreneurial training that builds teams around patented technologies from Weill Cornell Medicine and neighboring institutions. The program educates participants on all aspects of launching a company. Teams create pitch decks based on weekly instruction and mentorship from industry experts, and then finalist teams are selected to pitch to a panel of investor judges. The pitches will take place in Uris Auditorium, 1300 York Ave, New York, NY. A networking reception will follow at Griffis Faculty Lounge at the same location.
Thursday, 12/5 Emerging Innovations in Healthcare: Neurodegenerative Disorders. For the third installment of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners’ series showcasing up-and-coming healthcare and biotech companies companies, the focus will be on neurodegenerative disorders, featuring companies solving some of healthcare’s most pressing needs through digital and therapeutic innovations. The event will feature company presentations and KOL feedback, followed by a networking reception.
Thursday, 12/5 Roivant & Outbio: Greater New York Holiday Meetup. Join Roivant and OUTbio’s Greater New York chapter for their holiday party bringing together LGBTQ+ professionals and allies in the biotech industry. Connect with fellow members and others from the life sciences community in a relaxed and inclusive environment.
Thursday, 12/5 Bridging the Gap: How to Take Your Research Into the World. I’m thrilled to be one of the panelists speaking at this exciting event hosted by Nucleate NY and Princeton Innovation Center Biolabs! This event is designed to connect the brightest minds in biotech, from Nucleate Activator Program semi-finalists to founders, alumni, and investors. Whether you're looking to expand your network or gain insights into how to take your research from the lab to the real world, this is the event for you!
Wednesday, 12/11 Climate Pints Winter Gathering. The Clime Pints crew is back at Prime Produce in Hell’s Kitchen and throwing an end of year climate people party! Come find solace and sip sustainably amongst a much beloved climate geek community, with a few activities and surprises in store as well!
Thursday, 12/12 ECHO Biotech Happy Hour. The monthly gathering of NYC’s leading life sciences Entrepreneurs, Clinicians, and Healthcare Operators (aka “ECHO”) returns for a holiday-flavored edition at New York BioLabs. Feel free to drop by for some or all of the festivities, and spread some bio-infused holiday cheer!
Other events coming up you think I should know about? Let me know here!
Map of the Month
🚇 The Weekendest is the latest incarnation of Sunny Ng’s mission to build a better subway-tracker. (And it’s also really fun to just look at.)
Odds & Ends
🔢 You’d never think it was this difficult to put numbers in order…