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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.


Parcels Find Their Way to You Via the Crowd
From ACM TechNews

Parcels Find Their Way to You Via the Crowd

A potential crowd-powered delivery system called TwedEx would deliver packages to consumers without requiring them to deviate from normal routes. 

Is This Virtual Worm the First Sign of the Singularity?
From ACM News

Is This Virtual Worm the First Sign of the Singularity?

For all the talk of artificial intelligence and all the games of SimCity that have been played, no one in the world can actually simulate living things. Biology...

The Audacious Plan to End Hunger with 3D Printed Food
From ACM News

The Audacious Plan to End Hunger with 3D Printed Food

Anjan Contractor's 3D food printer might evoke visions of the "replicator" popularized in Star Trek, from which Captain Picard was constantly interrupting himself...

The Future of Propaganda: Sean Gourley on Big Data and the 'war of Ideas'
From ACM Opinion

The Future of Propaganda: Sean Gourley on Big Data and the 'war of Ideas'

In 2009, Sean Gourley, an Oxford-trained physicist, gave a TED talk called "The Mathematics of War."

How to Hack a Nation's Infrastructure
From ACM News

How to Hack a Nation's Infrastructure

I'm watching a live video feed of people visiting a cafe in London.

How to Make a Less Creepy Robot? Simple, Just Add Data
From ACM News

How to Make a Less Creepy Robot? Simple, Just Add Data

Disney’s research arm has solved a problem that you probably didn’t even know robots have—their inability to accept objects from people in a natural way.

Is Computing Speed Set to Make a Quantum Leap?
From ACM Opinion

Is Computing Speed Set to Make a Quantum Leap?

"Our imagination is stretched to the utmost," wrote Richard Feynman, the greatest physicist of his day, "not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really...

If Your Shrink Is a Bot, How Do You Respond?
From ACM News

If Your Shrink Is a Bot, How Do You Respond?

Her hair is brown and tied back into a professional-looking ponytail.

Helper Robots Are Steered, Tentatively, to Care For the Aging
From ACM News

Helper Robots Are Steered, Tentatively, to Care For the Aging

In the opening scene of the movie "Robot & Frank," which takes place in the near future, Frank, an elderly man who lives alone, is arguing with his son about going...

Nasa Mars Rover Curiosity Drills Second Rock Target
From ACM News

Nasa Mars Rover Curiosity Drills Second Rock Target

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called "Cumberland."

Web Browsers Are Reinvented
From ACM News

Web Browsers Are Reinvented

Mobile phones, wearable devices, and self-driving cars are generating buzz as the future of technology. But the old Web browser is being reinvented too, in a trend...

Chatting in Code on Walkie-Talkies in Pakistan's Restive Tribal Areas
From ACM News

Chatting in Code on Walkie-Talkies in Pakistan's Restive Tribal Areas

Sharif loves using his mukhabera. "I use it daily, mostly at night time, because signals are clear at that time," he says. "I am in touch with most of my friends...

Why Google and the Pentagon Want 'quantum Computers'
From ACM News

Why Google and the Pentagon Want 'quantum Computers'

Imagine a computer that can teach your mobile phone to recognize any object it sees, or one that can instantly find optimal travel routes for thousands of planes...

Paul Otellini's Intel: Can the Company That Built the Future Survive It?
From ACM Opinion

Paul Otellini's Intel: Can the Company That Built the Future Survive It?

Forty-five years after Intel was founded by Silicon Valley legends Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce, it is the world's leading semiconductor company.

Should Patents Be Awarded to Software?
From ACM Opinion

Should Patents Be Awarded to Software?

The goal of the U.S. patent system is clear: to provide individuals or companies with an incentive to innovate by offering them 20 years of exclusive rights to...

Nice! The Brain as a Model For Future Supercomputers
From ACM TechNews

Nice! The Brain as a Model For Future Supercomputers

The Neuro-Inspired Computational Elements workshop is aimed at finding ways to tap the brain's ability to transmit signals along massively parallel channels.

Age and Gender? Dutch Develop Analyzer for Twitter
From ACM TechNews

Age and Gender? Dutch Develop Analyzer for Twitter

A new online program  can determine the age and gender of Twitter users, based on the content they post. 

Improving Communication During Disasters
From ACM TechNews

Improving Communication During Disasters

The BRIDGE project aims to improve emergency response collaboration during disasters, and is examining how technology can help to enhance response strategies. 

Moshe Vardi: Robots Could Put Humans Out of Work By 2045
From ACM Opinion

Moshe Vardi: Robots Could Put Humans Out of Work By 2045

Robots began replacing human brawn long ago—now they're poised to replace human brains.

Laptop ­
From ACM News

Laptop ­

Gregory Nagy, a professor of classical Greek literature at Harvard, is a gentle academic of the sort who, asked about the future, will begin speaking of Homer and...
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