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ORNL engineer the first African American woman involved in discovery of an element

Posted at 12:50 pm July 23, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Clarice Phelps represents einsteinium on the “Periodic Table of Younger Chemists.” (Photo courtesy ORNL)

A nuclear engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the first African American woman to be involved with the discovery of an element, tennessine, the lab said Tuesday.

Clarice Phelps of ORNL’s Isotope and Fuel Cycle Technology Division is one of two researchers at the lab to be featured on the “Periodic Table of Younger Chemists,” ORNL said in a press release.

Also honored is Nathan Brewer, a postdoctoral researcher in ORNL’s Physics Division.

Phelps and Brewer are both early career researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Clarice Phelps, einsteinium, element 117, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, International Younger Chemists Network, IUPAC, IYCN, Nathan Brewer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oganesson, ORNL, Periodic Table of Younger Chemists, Tennessine, U.S. Department of Energy

Haslam visits ORNL to highlight state’s role in discovering tennessine

Posted at 12:29 am January 28, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Bill Haslam at ORNL Tennessine Martin McDonald Thom Mason ORHS Students

Principal Martin McDonald, left, and students from Oak Ridge High School accepted the first new chart of the periodic table featuring element tennessine and signed by Governor Bill Haslam, right, and ORNL Director Thom Mason, second from left. To mark the discovery of tennessine, UT-Battelle is donating a new chart to all public middle and high schools in Tennessee. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam visited the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Friday to congratulate the ORNL team involved in the discovery of the element tennessine, named in recognition of the vital contributions of the state of Tennessee to the international search for new superheavy elements.

UT-Battelle, the managing contractor of ORNL, is marking the discovery by providing more than 1,000 public middle schools and high schools in Tennessee with new charts of the periodic table. Tennessine—the official name for element 117—completes the seventh row of the table and the column of elements classified as halogens.

The charts will include the signatures of Haslam and ORNL Director Thom Mason.

“We had two very significant announcements in Tennessee this fall as it relates to science,” Haslam said. “In October, the Nation’s Report Card announced that Tennessee students are the fastest improving in the nation in science, and in November, Tennessee became only the second state to be recognized in the periodic table of elements. Having an element named in our honor is further evidence of the scientific excellence that exists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, and other institutions throughout our state, and by UT-Battelle donating new periodic tables to every middle and high school in Tennessee, students can feel proud of our state’s important role in the scientific community and inspired to play a role in its future.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Front Page News, Government, K-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, State, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: berkelium-249, Bill Haslam, Bk-249, DOE Isotope Program, element 115, element 117, element 118, Eugene P. Wigner Distinguished Lecture, halogens, High Flux Isotope Reactor, hot fusion, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, island of stability, IUPAC, Jim Roberto, Joe Hamilton, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Martin McDonald, Moscovium, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, Oganesson, ORNL, periodic table, Radiochemical Engineering Development Center, radioisotope, superheavy atoms, superheavy element, Tennessine, Thom Mason, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, UT-Battelle, Vanderbilt University, Victor Matveev, Yuri Oganessian

Name of new element, tennessine, recognizes state’s contributions, including at ORNL

Posted at 2:53 pm November 30, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

tennessine-logo-final

The recently discovered element 117 has been officially named “tennessine” in recognition of Tennessee’s contributions to its discovery, including the efforts of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its Tennessee collaborators at Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee.

“The presence of tennessine on the Periodic Table is an affirmation of our state’s standing in the international scientific community, including the facilities ORNL provides to that community as well as the knowledge and expertise of the laboratory’s scientists and technicians,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said in a press release.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC, gave its final approval to the name “tennessine” following a year-long process that began December 30, 2015, when IUPAC and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics announced verification of the existence of the superheavy element 117. That was more than five years after scientists first reported its discovery in April 2010.

IUPAC validates the existence of newly discovered elements and approves their official names.

ORNL had several roles in the discovery, the most prominent being production of the radioisotope berkelium-249 for the search. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: berkelium-249, calcium-48, DOE, element 117, halogen, High Flux Isotope Reactor, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, island of stability, Isotope Program, IUPAC, Jim Roberto, JINR, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, neutron scattering, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, periodic table, Radiochemical Engineering Development Center, radioisotopes, Russia, superheavy element, Tennessine, Thom Mason, Ts, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, Yuri Oganessian

Video: Tennessine the proposed name for new element in honor of Tennessee

Posted at 1:12 pm June 8, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Tennessine has been announced as a provisional name for superheavy element 117, one of four new superheavy elements. The proposed name honors the contributions of three Tennessee institutions: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Tennessee, and Vanderbilt University.

See a short ORNL video about the announcement and discovery below.

See earlier stories here and here.

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: element 117, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Tennessine, University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University

Tennessee gets a place at the table with newest element: Tennessine

Posted at 12:21 pm June 8, 2016
By University of Tennessee Leave a Comment

Robert Grzywacz

Robert Grzywacz

One of the newest members of the periodic table will likely have a familiar sound to it, even if the spelling might be a bit off: Tennessine.

Proposed as a nod to researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee, who helped confirm its existence, element 117 would be only the second to be named for a state. Since the name Tennessee has its origins in the name of the Cherokee village of Tanasi, it also becomes the first element with Native American roots.

The International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry formally verified the discovery and has now put forth the name Tennessine—pronounced to rhyme with green—for public comment.

Robert Grzywacz, director of the UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Nuclear Physics and Applications and a physics professor at UT, served as UT’s connection to the project. Grzywacz helped develop a process that measures the decay of nuclear materials down to one millionth of a second, which was vital in proving the existence of the new element. [Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: David Miller, element 113, element 115, element 117, International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry, Jimmy G. Cheek, Mc, Moscovium, Nathan Brewer, NH, Nihomium, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Og, Oganesson, ORNL, periodic table, Robert Grzywacz, superheavy element, Tennessine, Ts, University of Tennessee, UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Nuclear Physics and Applications, Vanderbilt University, Yuri Oganessian

Recognizing Tennessee’s contribution, Tennessine could be name of new chemical element

Posted at 11:27 am June 8, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

ORNL Berkelium-249

Berkelium-249, contained in the greenish fluid in the tip of the vial, was crucial to the experiment that discovered element 117. It was made in the research reactor at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Note: This post was last updated at 11:45 a.m.

Tennessine is among the names proposed for four new elements. If approved, the name would recognize the contributions of Tennessee research centers—Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee—in the discovery of one of four new superheavy elements: 113, 115, 117, and 118.

Tennessine (Ts) is proposed for element 117.

The discovery of the four new elements was announced in January, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory played a role in discovering two of them. The elements have been added to the periodic table, filling the seventh row, or period.

Twenty-two milligrams of a very pure synthetic material produced at ORNL were used in the discovery of two of the new chemical elements. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: berkelium-249, element 113, element 115, element 117, element 118, High Flux Isotope Reactor, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, island of stability, IUPAC, IUPAC Council, Japan, Jim Roberto, JINR, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL, Moscovium, nihonium, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, Oganesson, ORNL, periodic table, Radiochemical Engineering Development Center, RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, Russia, superheavy elements, Tennessine, Ts, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, Yuri Oganessian

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Classifieds

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