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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.


Nasa Readies Jobs For Robonaut
From ACM News

Nasa Readies Jobs For Robonaut

The space android called Robonaut 2 was just unpacked from its box last month, but NASA is already thinking up jobs for the darn thing to do, such as replacing...

From ACM News

'predator' Smart Camera Locks Onto, Tracks Anything

Zdenek Kalal’s Predator object-tracking software is almost uncanny. Show anything to its all-seeing camera eye, and it will quickly learn to recognize it and...

Ancient Greek Computer Had Surprising Sun Tracker
From ACM News

Ancient Greek Computer Had Surprising Sun Tracker

The world's oldest astronomical calculator is famous for having intricate gear systems centuries ahead of their time. But new work shows the Antikythera mechanism...

Silicene: It Could Be the New Graphene
From ACM TechNews

Silicene: It Could Be the New Graphene

Japanese researchers have created atom-thin sheets of silicon, called silicene, that resemble graphene and could have electronic applications.

Companies Hope to 'program' the Internet
From ACM News

Companies Hope to 'program' the Internet

Most data networks could be faster, more energy efficient, and more secure. But network hardware—switches, routers, and other devices—is essentially locked down...

From ACM TechNews

Multicore Coding Standards Aim to Ease Programming

The Multicore Association has established specifications for a programming model designed to make it easier to write software for multicore chips, particularly...

From ACM News

Flying Robots Team ­p to Juggle

Our flying robot overlords seem to have a fun side after all. In this video, watch two quadrocopters team up to skillfully juggle a ball, thanks to software developed...

Kaashoek Wins Acm's Prize For Young Researchers
From ACM News

Kaashoek Wins Acm's Prize For Young Researchers

Frans Kaashoek, a professor in the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and associate director of the Computer Science and Artificial...

Spiders and Crabs Inspire Robot Locomotion
From ACM News

Spiders and Crabs Inspire Robot Locomotion

The walking patterns of crabs, lobsters and spiders are helping to inspire new ways of getting robots to move around.

The First Plastic Computer Processor
From ACM TechNews

The First Plastic Computer Processor

European researchers have developed a computer processor and memory chip made from plastic semiconductors.  "Compared to using silicon, this has the advantage of...

Researchers Find a New Way to Mix Computers and Neurons
From ACM TechNews

Researchers Find a New Way to Mix Computers and Neurons

Nerve cell tendrils recently grew through tiny tubes made of semiconductor material in groundbreaking research conducted by University of Wisconsin, Madison graduate...

Swiping Is the Easy Part
From ACM News

Swiping Is the Easy Part

The cellphone has been more than a cellphone for years, but soon it could take on an entirely new role—standing in for all of the credit and debit cards crammed...

From ACM News

Diamond Could Store Quantum Information

Could be that diamonds are a geek’s best friend. Scientists have developed a new way to manipulate atoms inside diamond crystals so that they store information...

From ACM News

Making a Microscope Without a Lens

Recent work from the University of Twente doesn't use a lens yet achieves a resolution that is about twice what you would expect under optimum conditions. How...

2010: The Year Apple Also Became a Chip Company
From ACM News

2010: The Year Apple Also Became a Chip Company

While changes in the ancient market-share rivalry between chipmakers Intel and Advanced Micro Devices were unremarkable in 2010, the emergence of Apple as a force...

The First Plastic Computer Processor
From ACM News

The First Plastic Computer Processor

Silicon may underpin the computers that surround us, but the rigid inflexibility of the semiconductor means it cannot reach everywhere. The first computer processor...

Computer Chips Wired with Nerve Cells
From ACM News

Computer Chips Wired with Nerve Cells

Nerve cell tendrils readily thread their way through tiny semiconductor tubes, researchers find, forming a crisscrossed network like vines twining towards the...

Surveillance Robots Know When to Hide
From ACM News

Surveillance Robots Know When to Hide

The spy approaches the target building under cover of darkness, taking a zigzag path to avoid well-lit areas and sentries. He selects a handy vantage point next...

How Did a British Polytechnic Graduate Become the Design Genius Behind
From ACM News

How Did a British Polytechnic Graduate Become the Design Genius Behind

Few Westerners have ever seen the forging of a Japanese samurai sword. It's considered a sacred practice in Japan; one of the few traditional arts that has yet...

Tiny 3-D-Printed Insect Robots Take Flight
From ACM News

Tiny 3-D-Printed Insect Robots Take Flight

A team of roboticists at Cornell University have created tiny flying robotic insects using 3-D printing. The flapping wings of the hovering robotic insects (known...
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