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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


Learn to Fly Sikorsky's New Helicopter in Just 45 Minutes
From ACM TechNews

Learn to Fly Sikorsky's New Helicopter in Just 45 Minutes

A specially equipped Sikorsky helicopter can be controlled through a handheld tablet, and learning to pilot it can take as little as 45 minutes. 

Quantum Physicists Found a New, Safer Way to Navigate
From ACM News

Quantum Physicists Found a New, Safer Way to Navigate

In 2015, the U.S. Naval Academy decided that its graduates needed to return to the past and learn how to navigate using the stars.

Here's How Much Bots Drive Conversation During News Events
From ACM News

Here's How Much Bots Drive Conversation During News Events

Last week, as thousands of Central American migrants made their way northward through Mexico, walking a treacherous route toward the US border, talk of "the caravan...

Scientists Help Robots 'Evolve.' Weirdness Ensues
From ACM News

Scientists Help Robots 'Evolve.' Weirdness Ensues

Evolution is a trip. On the one hand, it's a seemingly simple mechanism—those best fitted to their environment have more babies, while less fit individuals don't...

Google Wants China. Will Chinese ­sers Want Google?
From ACM News

Google Wants China. Will Chinese ­sers Want Google?

Google CEO Sundar Pichai was upbeat Monday when he told WIRED about internal tests of a censored search engine designed to win approval from Chinese officials....

These New Tricks Can Outsmart Deepfake Videos, for Now
From ACM News

These New Tricks Can Outsmart Deepfake Videos, for Now

For weeks, computer scientist Siwei Lyu had watched his team's deepfake videos with a gnawing sense of unease.

The Ick of AI That Impersonates Humans
From ACM News

The Ick of AI That Impersonates Humans

Philip K. Dick was living a few miles north of San Francisco when he wrote Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which envisioned a world where artificially intelligent...

How Russian Spies Infiltrated Hotel Wi-Fi to Hack Victims ­p Close
From ACM News

How Russian Spies Infiltrated Hotel Wi-Fi to Hack Victims ­p Close

For years, the Kremlin's increasingly aggressive hackers have reached across the globe to hit targets with everything from simple phishing schemes to worms built...

Mobile Websites Can Tap Into Your Phone's Sensors Without Asking
From ACM News

Mobile Websites Can Tap Into Your Phone's Sensors Without Asking

When apps want to access data from your smartphone's motion or light sensors, they often make that capability clear.

How Apple Makes the AI Chip Powering the iPhone's Fancy Tricks
From ACM News

How Apple Makes the AI Chip Powering the iPhone's Fancy Tricks

A few years ago—the company won't say exactly when—some engineers at Apple began to think the iPhone's camera could be made smarter using newly powerful machine...

Crispr's Epic Patent Fight Changed the Course of Biology
From ACM News

Crispr's Epic Patent Fight Changed the Course of Biology

After three bitter years and tens of millions of dollars in legal fees, the epic battle over who owns one of the most common methods for editing the DNA in any...

How The Weather Channel Made That Insane Storm Surge Animation
From ACM News

How The Weather Channel Made That Insane Storm Surge Animation

At a certain point, you think you have a good grasp of what to expect from weather graphics. A color-coded map, a five-day forecast with a sassy cloud.

Hackers Can Steal a Tesla Model S in Seconds by Cloning Its Key Fob
From ACM News

Hackers Can Steal a Tesla Model S in Seconds by Cloning Its Key Fob

Tesla has taken plenty of innovative steps to protect the driving systems of its kitted-out cars against digital attacks. It's hired top-notch security engineers...

AI Can Recognize Images. But Can It ­nderstand This Headline?
From ACM News

AI Can Recognize Images. But Can It ­nderstand This Headline?

In 2012, artificial intelligence researchers revealed a big improvement in computers' ability to recognize images by feeding a neural network millions of labeled...

Meet the Rose Hip Cell, a New Kind of Neuron
From ACM News

Meet the Rose Hip Cell, a New Kind of Neuron

It's been more than a century since Spanish neuroanatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal won the Nobel Prize for illustrating the way neurons allow you to walk, talk,...

The Serious Security Problem Looming Over Robotics
From ACM News

The Serious Security Problem Looming Over Robotics

They call it Herb2. It's a dapper robot, wearing a bowtie even while it sits at home in its lab at the University of Washington.

A Monitor's ­ltrasonic Sounds Can Reveal What's on the Screen
From ACM News

A Monitor's ­ltrasonic Sounds Can Reveal What's on the Screen

You probably assume that someone can only see what's on your computer screen by looking at it.

How Hacked Water Heaters Could Trigger Mass Blackouts
From ACM News

How Hacked Water Heaters Could Trigger Mass Blackouts

When the cybersecurity industry warns about the nightmare of hackers causing blackouts, the scenario they describe typically entails an elite team of hackers ...

Watch a Sporty AI Teach Itself to Dribble Better Than You
From ACM News

Watch a Sporty AI Teach Itself to Dribble Better Than You

I'm not what you'd call a coordinated man, so basketball horrifies me. All the dribbling, all the shooting—all while running and dodging people trying to smack...

Quantum Computing Will Create Jobs. But Which Ones?
From ACM Careers

Quantum Computing Will Create Jobs. But Which Ones?

Chris Monroe's vision for quantum computers is simple: He wants people to use them.
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