Oak Ridge Today

Girls Inc. art on display at Library in August

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Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

 

The art exhibit at Oak Ridge Public Library for the month of August is a collection of drawings and paintings by young artists from Girls Inc. of Oak Ridge.

This organization first began in 1976 as a girls-only sports program, but quickly grew into an after school, summer camp, and sports program for girls between five and 18 years old. Girls Inc. serves more than 850 girls per year, a press release said.

Girls in the program are encouraged to be strong, smart, and bold, the press release said. [Read more…]

DOE: National labs, including ORNL, helped found study of ecology

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Ecologist Dan Nelson hauling in a gill net as part of the fish population survey of the Clinch River Study. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory via U.S. Department of Energy)

Ecologist Dan Nelson hauling in a gill net as part of the fish population survey of the Clinch River Study. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory via U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Researchers at federal sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory first developed many of the concepts and tools that ecologists still use today, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“The study of ecology is likely to evoke images of recycling signs or the ‘blue marble’ Earth from space associated with the environmental movement of the 1960s,” the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science said in an article published online on June 28. “But in reality, ecology as a field largely developed to meet the need to monitor radioactive contamination in the Atomic Age.”

The federal government had a major knowledge gap after World War II, according to the article, which was written by Shannon Brescher Shea, senior writer/editor in DOE’s Office of Science. Specifically, the United States government needed to know more about the consequences of nuclear weapons use and production, from the effects of fallout to waste disposal.

The Atomic Energy Commission’s national laboratories were logical places to answer these questions, the article said. [Read more…]

Free eclipse glasses for Oak Ridge Public Library members on Aug. 14

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Eclipse Glasses

Bring your library card to the Oak Ridge Public Library on August 14 and you can receive a free pair of eclipse viewing glasses.

There is a limit of one pair per account, and the glasses will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information, call the library at (865) 425-3455.

The partial eclipse will generally start in Oak Ridge at 1:04 p.m. August 21, and totality will take place at 2:33 p.m. It has been estimated that the total solar eclipse in Oak Ridge will last 27 to 31 seconds. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools will transport students, provide glasses for solar eclipse

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Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

 

Oak Ridge Schools will transport students and provide eclipse glasses for the solar eclipse on Monday, August 21. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people.

The path of totality for the solar eclipse cuts through Oak Ridge, according to information provided to the Oak Ridge Board of Education for a meeting on Monday, August 7.

Because the path of totality cuts through Oak Ridge, half of the city’s schools are in the path of totality and half are not, the information said.

“We believe that every Oak Ridge student should have the opportunity to learn about the eclipse and to experience the total eclipse,” the information said. “Therefore, we will be transporting students from the east side of Oak Ridge to the west side, with parental permission.”

The solar eclipse of 2017 is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people, the information said. [Read more…]

Eclipse 2017: What you need to know about safety

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Paul Lewis

Paul Lewis

By Lola Alapo/University of Tennessee

T minus 18 days. On Monday, August 21, a total solar eclipse—when the disk of the moon completely covers the sun—will be visible in the United States along a path from central Oregon through Tennessee and on to South Carolina.

In Tennessee, many points to the south and southwest of Knoxville will experience a total eclipse. Knoxville, however, will have only a 99.75 percent partial eclipse.

UT experts are providing tips on how East Tennesseans can view the eclipse safely and protect their eyes, wherever they’re viewing. You can click on any of the links below to learn more.

Related: Everything You Need to Know about Eclipse 2017

The university will host a Solar Sun Day from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 6, on the roof of the Nielsen Physics Building. The event is free and open to the public. Participants will observe the sun through telescopes and will learn about the August 21 total eclipse and how to build devices for viewing the sun indirectly. They also will see an eclipse simulation in UT’s planetarium and receive a free pair of solar glasses. [Read more…]

National Park Service will offer free eclipse glasses, viewers for total solar eclipse

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National Park Service 2017 The All-American Total Solar Eclipse

The National Park Service will distribute free eclipse glasses and free eclipse viewers at two viewing sites in Oak Ridge during the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21.

The two viewing sites are:

  • American Museum of Science and Energy/Manhattan Project National Historical Park Visitor Center at 300 South Tulane Avenue in central Oak Ridge, and
  • East Tennessee Technology Park, 200 Heritage Center Boulevard, in west Oak Ridge.

Oak Ridge is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The total solar eclipse will cross the Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Monday, August 21. The entire area of the park falls within the path of totality, a press release said.

“The park will be offering two free viewing locations where park rangers will be distributing free eclipse glasses and free eclipse viewers that include a commemorative artistic rendering of the ‘All-American Total Solar Eclipse,'” the press release said. “Park rangers will also be discussing safe viewing practices and using enhanced viewing equipment to help visitors enjoy all phases of the eclipse.” [Read more…]

ORNL building world’s smartest supercomputer

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This a graphical representation of the Summit computer cabinets. It is not a photograph of the final design. (Image courtesy ORNL/Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility)

This a graphical representation of the Summit computer cabinets. It is not a photograph of the final design. (Image courtesy ORNL/Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Aug. 8.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Wednesday said it is building the world’s smartest supercomputer.

The new supercomputer is called Summit. It will be located in a new data center next to Titan, which is now the fourth most powerful supercomputer in the world.

Summit will be 5-10 times faster than Titan, ORNL said. It will move data five to 10 times faster, store eight times more data, and perform many more calculations simultaneously than Titan, the lab said in information provided by spokesperson Morgan McCorkle.

Summit will be the world’s smartest supercomputer because of its enormous memory and data handling capabilities as well as its unique machine learning processor design, McCorkle said.

“The first of Summit’s cabinets arrived Monday, and our team is in the process of uncrating and putting them in place,” McCorkle said in response to questions from Oak Ridge Today. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge will be viewing site for solar eclipse

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Solar eclipse (Photo courtesy UT Arboretum Society)

Solar eclipse (Photo courtesy UT Arboretum Society)

 

The University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge will be a viewing site for the solar eclipse on August 21.

It is estimated that the total solar eclipse in Oak Ridge will last 27 to 31 seconds at approximately 2:33 p.m. EDT August 21, a press release said.

The public is invited to view the eclipse in a clear area above the arboretum’s auditorium, the press release said. Gates will open at 1:30 p.m. for cars to park near the site. Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center staff will direct patrons to walk to the area at the top of the hill.

The public is invited to bring chairs, blankets, and viewing devices, the press release said. Normal arboretum rules will be followed including no pets and no picnicking. People are encouraged to bring water. Restrooms will be available in the auditorium building.

For this first solar eclipse over the continental United States since 1979, Oak Ridge is one of the few cities in the path of totality in Tennessee. [Read more…]

Photos: Oak Ridge-Heritage football scrimmage

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Oak Ridge had an opening football scrimmage at Heritage High School in Blount County on Monday, July 31, 2017. (Photos by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge had an opening football scrimmage at Heritage High School in Blount County on Monday, July 31, 2017. (Photos by Luther Simmons)

 

BLOUNT COUNTY—Oak Ridge had an opening football scrimmage at Heritage High School in Blount County on Monday. Here are photos by Luther Simmons.

The final score was Oak Ridge 41, Heritage 14. You can see some of the highlights posted by Oak Ridge Sports on Twitter.

During the freshman scrimmage, Oak Ridge scored three touchdowns while holding Heritage scoreless. [Read more…]

Rack Room Shoes now open in Oak Ridge

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Rack Room Shoes Interior July 27 2017

The interior of the new Rack Room Shoes store is pictured above at Main Street Oak Ridge. The store opened Thursday, July 27, 2017. (Photo courtesy Rack Room Shoes)

 

The new Rack Room Shoes store opened at Main Street Oak Ridge on Thursday.

The new store is 5,000 square feet. It is near Belk and between two other new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge: rue21 and Ulta.

Rack Room Shoes is a family footwear retailer.

It’s the fifth new store to open at Main Street Oak Ridge since mid-June. Main Street Oak Ridge is the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.

The other four stores that have also opened are rue21, maurices, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and PetSmart. The other three stores expected to open soon are Electronic Express, T.J. Maxx, and Ulta. [Read more…]

See 2017 Oak Ridge girls’ soccer schedule here

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Here is the 2017 game schedule for Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer:

Preseason

  1. July 29—KIL Jamboree: McMinn County (away)—10:30 a.m./Webb (away)—11:30 a.m.
  2. August 1—South Doyle (home)—7 p.m.
  3. August 3—CAK (away)—6 p.m.
  4. August 8—Alcoa (home)—7 p.m.
  5. August 10—Maryville (away)—7 p.m.

Regular Season [Read more…]

Baldwin joins planning, design company in Knoxville

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Kathryn Baldwin

Kathryn Baldwin

 

Former Oak Ridge Community Development Director Kathryn Baldwin has joined Lose & Associates, a planning and design company that once developed a master plan for the Oak Ridge City Center.

Lose & Associates is a landscape architecture, architecture, civil engineering, and planning firm with offices in Nashville and Atlanta, a press release said. The company recently announced its expansion to the Knoxville area, in Franklin Square on Kingston Pike.

Baldwin, office manager and senior planner, will lead the Knoxville office, the press release said. She has a master’s degree in geography from East Tennessee State University, and she “brings a wealth of geographic knowledge, management skills, and technical knowledge to her new position,” the press release said.

Baldwin retired after 16 years with the City of Oak Ridge, and her last day was July 28. Wayne Blasius, who had been executive director of the nonprofit East Tennessee Community Design Center, has been hired to replace her, starting August 28. [Read more…]