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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.


For Rosetta Mission's Scientists, the Thrill Is in the Comet Chase
From ACM Careers

For Rosetta Mission's Scientists, the Thrill Is in the Comet Chase

Claudia Alexander has spent the last 15 years of her life waiting for this moment: landing a spacecraft the size of a washing machine on the surface of a speeding...

Google's New Open Source Privacy Effort Looks Back to the '60s
From ACM TechNews

Google's New Open Source Privacy Effort Looks Back to the '60s

Google has announced a new open source tool for massive data sets based on differential privacy, a technique developed in the 1960s. 

Dark Net Experts Trade Theories on 'de-Cloaking' After Raids
From ACM News

Dark Net Experts Trade Theories on 'de-Cloaking' After Raids

The hidden web community has started trying to find out how services and identities were compromised after police raids led to 17 arrests.

Microsoft Headset to Help Blind People Navigate Cities
From ACM TechNews

Microsoft Headset to Help Blind People Navigate Cities

Microsoft is collaborating with a British charity to develop a headset that could help the blind and the visually impaired navigate urban locations.

Google Scholar Pioneer on Search Engine’s Future
From ACM News

Google Scholar Pioneer on Search Engine’s Future

As the search engine approaches its 10th birthday, Nature speaks to the co-creator of Google Scholar.

What Is Tor? Did Police Outfox It?
From ACM News

What Is Tor? Did Police Outfox It?

European police Friday said they had figured out how to pierce an Internet privacy tool used by dissidents, journalists and online drug dealers.

The $11m Tool That Could Help Computers Write Their Own Code
From ACM News

The $11m Tool That Could Help Computers Write Their Own Code

Nowadays, if you start typing something into Google, it tries to guess what you’re looking for.

Digital Reconstruction Restores Rare Dino Skull
From ACM News

Digital Reconstruction Restores Rare Dino Skull

Dinosaur fossils are valuable resources—yet access to them can be tricky.

European Genetic Identity May Stretch Back 36,000 Years
From ACM News

European Genetic Identity May Stretch Back 36,000 Years

Europeans carry a motley mix of genes from at least three ancient sources: indigenous hunter-gatherers within Europe, people from the Middle East, and northwest...

Half of Stars Lurk Outside Galaxies
From ACM News

Half of Stars Lurk Outside Galaxies

Astronomers have spotted a faint cosmic glow, unseen until now, that may come from stars that float adrift between galaxies.

Fmri Data Reveals the Number of Parallel Processes Running in the Brain
From ACM News

Fmri Data Reveals the Number of Parallel Processes Running in the Brain

The human brain is often described as a massively parallel computing machine. That raises an interesting question: just how parallel is it?

How Gravity Explains Why Time Never Runs Backward
From ACM News

How Gravity Explains Why Time Never Runs Backward

We can't avoid the passing of time, even at the DMV, where time seems to come to a standstill.

A Better Way to Slice the Pie
From ACM Careers

A Better Way to Slice the Pie

Splitting a check, an inheritance or credit for an idea are activities of daily life that are filled with potential pitfalls.

Ghost Universes Kill Schrödinger's Quantum Cat
From ACM News

Ghost Universes Kill Schrödinger's Quantum Cat

The wave function has collapsed—permanently.

The New Thing in Google Flu Trends Is Traditional Data
From ACM TechNews

The New Thing in Google Flu Trends Is Traditional Data

Google is overhauling its Flu Trends service to harness more traditional medical data, which has long been used to track and predict the flu season. 

Carnegie Mellon's Inflatable Robotic Arm Inspires Design of Disney's Latest Character
From ACM News

Carnegie Mellon's Inflatable Robotic Arm Inspires Design of Disney's Latest Character

When Don Hall saw a robot arm made of balloons while visiting Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute several years ago, he knew instantly that Baymax,...

Nasa's Curiosity Mars Rover Finds Mineral Match
From ACM News

Nasa's Curiosity Mars Rover Finds Mineral Match

Reddish rock powder from the first hole drilled into a Martian mountain by NASA's Curiosity rover has yielded the mission's first confirmation of a mineral mapped...

Self-Driving Car Advocates Tangle With Messy Morality
From ACM News

Self-Driving Car Advocates Tangle With Messy Morality

Sure, dealing with lane changes, firetrucks and construction projects is difficult for engineers building self-driving cars. But what about deciding which people...

Computers Are Learning to See the World Like We Do
From ACM TechNews

Computers Are Learning to See the World Like We Do

On the website Park or Bird on Flickr, a computer makes an educated guess as to whether a photograph was taken in a national park or shows a bird. 

Computer Game Could Help Visually-Impaired Children Live Independently
From ACM TechNews

Computer Game Could Help Visually-Impaired Children Live Independently

Researchers say a new computer game could help visually-impaired children lead independent lives. 
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