Bit Source

05/25/2026

We remember.
This Memorial Day, we're pausing to honor the men and women from our mountains who gave their lives in service to the country.
Eastern Kentucky has always shown up when it mattered, and today we're holding the ones we lost and the families who still carry them close.
Grateful, today and always.

05/21/2026

⛰️ Final day of CEDAR's 2026 Regional Coal Fair — UPIKE HPE Building, today 2–8pm. Come see what the next generation is working on.

A coal seam is an ancient forest pressed into stone — layer on layer of Eastern Kentucky, built up over millions of years into the black band at the center of the region's story. It is the subject K–12 students have spent all week exploring at the 2026 CEDAR Regional Coal Fair.

The fair opens to the public one final time today, Thursday, May 21, from 2:00 to 8:00 PM on the 7th-floor pavilion at the University of Pikeville. Admission is free.

207 projects fill the hall — students from six Eastern Kentucky school districts and three private academies, working on the science of coal and reclamation, its history, and the future of the communities it built, across seven subject areas.

Come spend an hour and see what the next generation of Eastern Kentucky is working on.

UPIKE HPE Building · 7th Floor Pavilion (Kentucky College of Optometry)

05/20/2026

🌲 207 K–12 projects from Eastern Kentucky students on display through Thursday at CEDAR's 2026 Regional Coal Fair — science, technology, multimedia, and the future of the communities the industry built. UPIKE HPE Building, 2–8pm. Come see their work.

🌲 Day two of public viewing is underway at the 2026 CEDAR Regional Coal Fair. The evergreen in CEDAR’s name is the Eastern Red Cedar — native to these mountains, green through every winter, and a fitting emblem for a fair where students show what they have built.
The fair is open again today, Wednesday, May 20, and once more tomorrow, Thursday, May 21, on the 7th-floor pavilion at the University of Pikeville. Public viewing runs 2:00 to 8:00 PM each day, and admission is free.
207 projects from K–12 students across six Eastern Kentucky school districts and three private academies remain on display, spanning science, mathematics, English and literature, art, music, technology and multimedia, and social studies.
Come see their work.
UPIKE HPE Building · 7th Floor Pavilion (Kentucky College of Optometry)

05/19/2026

🌲 225 Eastern Kentucky K–12 projects at CEDAR's 2026 Regional Coal Fair this week, with students working across seven subject areas — including the science of reclamation and the future of the communities the industry built. UPIKE HPE Building, May 19–21, 2–8pm.

The 2026 CEDAR Regional Coal Fair is open today, Tuesday, May 19, on the 7th-floor pavilion at the University of Pikeville. Public viewing hours are 2:00 to 8:00 PM today, Wednesday May 20, and Thursday May 21. Admission is free.
Students from six Eastern Kentucky school districts and three private academies have brought 207 projects to the fair, across seven subject areas: science, mathematics, English and literature, art, music, technology and multimedia, and social studies. Topics include coal's geology, its history, its place in the lives of Eastern Kentucky families, the science of mining and reclamation, and the future of the communities the industry built.
CEDAR has held the Regional Coal Fair annually since 1993.
UPIKE HPE Building · 7th Floor Pavilion (Kentucky College of Optometry)

05/18/2026

🌲 CEDAR, Inc. - Future of Work in Appalachia's 2026 Coal Fair has Eastern Kentucky students working on what coal communities build next — a question we live with every day at Bit Source.

🌲 The CEDAR Coal Fair returns to University of Pikeville next week — and the question for students has changed.

The 2026 curriculum asks teachers and students to spend half their time on the future of coal, not just the past.

CEDAR President John Justice: “We don’t want our kids stuck in the past… We want them to take what we have learned and create a path forward through innovation.”

Public viewing opens Tuesday May 19 at UPIKE’s HPE Building, 2–8pm Tuesday through Thursday.

05/13/2026

5% of the universe is matter we understand. Machine learning is chasing the rest.

Dr. Samuel Lane, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Pikeville, has won a 2025-26 Faculty Fellowship to apply neural networks and data classification to Higgs collider data, searching for particle interactions hidden in the noise.

One of 31 fellows across 23 Appalachian institutions. UPIKE physics, in serious company.

05/11/2026

$485M to 365 coal counties since launch. ARC POWER FY26 opened May 5 — letters of intent due May 22.
The Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization initiative has backed 564 projects across Appalachia, drawing $1.85B in additional private investment and preparing 170,000 workers for advanced manufacturing, entrepreneurship, tourism, and agriculture.
Worth a look for any Eastern Kentucky economic-development organization with a project on the table.

05/05/2026

$31,000 to three Central Appalachian founders in one night.

Hatch Accelerator's inaugural spring CBL Bootcamp wrapped its Pitch Night at the Dickenson County Incubator in Clintwood, VA. Three founders walked out with funded plans:

🥇 Turkey Feather Farm — $16,000
🥈 Revibe Resale Boutique — $9,000
🥉 Little Notions Quilt Shop — $6,000

Pasture pork, reclaimed retail, handmade quilts. Three businesses, one mountain region, the same answer to "what comes next."

Proud to show up for our neighbors across the line in SWVA. The Dickenson County Incubator, Norton IDA, Avante, Opportunity SWVA, and Made in Wise put real capital into the hands of people building this region's next economy. That's the work.

05/04/2026

15 years of STEAM Night. 300+ neighbors in one building.
One unforgettable theme: "Woven Logic."

Pikeville Independent Schools brought the whole district together
this week to show off what students have been building all year —
robotics, coding, "Pikeville Adventures," handwoven design, and a
sixth-grade exhibit called "Pikeville of the Future."

We were honored to be one of three community partners alongside the
Appalachian Roots Garden Club and the University of Pikeville Arts
and Humanities Department.

Tag a Pikeville student or teacher whose work deserves a spotlight.

04/30/2026

Archery AI. Pokémon card pricing. Used cars matched to EKY's economy. 🎯
Five of Pikeville interns wrapped their summer at Bit Source today — and every one of them shipped a real, working product.

The lineup:

LaneAssist — AI archery scoring (built on YOLO)
PokePrice — predictive pricing for graded Pokémon cards
Holler — used-car finder weighted to real Appalachian incomes
Gradient — career tool linking math skill to tech roles
FindYourUni — STEM college ranker by salary and net price

Data science, machine learning, APIs, front-end, deployment, and a stand-and-deliver finale — all in one summer, all in Pikeville.
Proud of this group. 👏