What do Velcro, Tang, penicillin, the structure of DNA and the World Wide Web have in common?
They all involved serendipitous discoveries—chance discoveries made by alert, curious scientists who were looking for other things when they happened across a fortuitous finding. Rather than ignoring their accidental discoveries, these curious, open-minded scientists harnessed their luck. “Chance favors only the prepared mind,” as Louis Pasteur put it. (more…)
New findings on white-nose syndrome are bringing scientists closer to slowing the spread of this deadly bat disease, according to recent and ongoing studies by the U.S. Geological Survey.
WNS has killed more than 5 million bats since it first appeared in New York in 2007, and the disease, caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, has spread to 19 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces (view map). (more…)
Kazakh Gold Producer to Improve Gold Yield with IBM Business Analytics
Armonk, N.Y. – 20 Jul 2012: IBM has announced that it is working with JSC Altyntau Resources, a leading gold producer in Kazakhstan, to provide a new business analytics system to help the company to improve gold yields and increase the profitability of its operations.
The new system will enable the gold producer to centralize and quickly analyze data about its mining operations. It includes a dashboard of important information enabling the company’s management team to make informed decisions about which ore to mine and which extraction processes to use to achieve the best return on investment. Once the project is complete, JSC Altyntau Resources will be able to speed up its annual financial planning cycle from two months to two weeks and ensure that investors are kept informed on the company’s operations and forecasts. (more…)
