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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.


Mitx Prototype Course Opens For Enrollment
From ACM Careers

Mitx Prototype Course Opens For Enrollment

In December, MIT announced the launch of an online learning initiative called "MITx." Starting this week, interested learners can now enroll for free in the initiative’s...

From ACM News

The Mathematics of Taste

The design of aromas—the flavors of packaged food and drink and the scents of cleaning products, toiletries and other household items—is a multibillion-dollar business...

From ACM News

Speed Limit For Birds

The northern goshawk is one of nature’s diehard thrill-seekers.

How Research Goes Viral
From ACM News

How Research Goes Viral

Scores of interesting new findings from the biosciences may speed around the globe at the click of a mouse, but one thing particularly encourages other researchers...

Traditional Social Networks Fueled Twitter's Spread
From ACM News

Traditional Social Networks Fueled Twitter's Spread

We've all heard it: The Internet has flattened the world, allowing social networks to spring up overnight, independent of geography or socioeconomic status.

Need a New Material? New Tool Can Help
From ACM News

Need a New Material? New Tool Can Help

Thanks to a new online toolkit developed at MIT and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, any researcher who needs to find a material with specific properties—whether...

Data Mining Without Prejudice
From ACM News

Data Mining Without Prejudice

A new technique for finding relationships between variables in large data sets makes no prior assumptions about what those relationships might be.

Putting the 'art' in Artificial Intelligence
From ACM News

Putting the 'art' in Artificial Intelligence

Like many kids, Antonio Torralba began playing around with computers when he was 13 years old. Unlike many of his friends, though, he was not playing video games...

Robots in Reality
From ACM News

Robots in Reality

Consider the following scenario: A scout surveys a high-rise building that's been crippled by an earthquake, trapping workers inside. After looking for a point...

Important Step Toward Computing with Light
From ACM News

Important Step Toward Computing with Light

There has been enormous progress in recent years toward the development of photonic chips—devices that use light beams instead of electrons to carry out their...

Tiny Stamps for Tiny Sensors
From ACM News

Tiny Stamps for Tiny Sensors

Advances in microchip technology may someday enable clinicians to perform tests for hundreds of diseases—sifting out specific molecules, such as early stage cancer...

Seeing Through Walls
From ACM News

Seeing Through Walls

Researchers at MIT's Lincoln Lab have developed new radar technology that provides real-time video of what’s going on behind solid walls.

Smarter Robot Arms
From ACM News

Smarter Robot Arms

A combination of two algorithms developed at MIT allows autonomous robots to execute tasks much more efficiently—and move more predictably.

Printing Off the Paper
From ACM News

Printing Off the Paper

Imagine being able to "print" an entire house. Or a four-course dinner. Or a complete mechanical device such as a cuckoo clock, fully assembled and ready to run...

In Plane View
From ACM News

In Plane View

An airplane’s digital flight-data recorder, or "black box," holds massive amounts of data, documenting the performance of engines, cockpit controls, hydraulic...

Milestone For MIT Press's Bestseller
From ACM News

Milestone For MIT Press's Bestseller

On Thursday, Aug. 4, the MIT Press held a party in MIT's Stata Center to celebrate the sale of the 500,000th copy of the textbook Introduction to Algorithms....

A New Planning Tool Helps Direct Traffic on Aircraft Carriers
From ACM News

A New Planning Tool Helps Direct Traffic on Aircraft Carriers

On the deck of an aircraft carrier, where up to 60 aircraft are crammed into 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares), real estate is at a premium. While aircraft directors wave...

Scientists Unveil Tools for Rewriting the Code of Life
From ACM News

Scientists Unveil Tools for Rewriting the Code of Life

MIT and Harvard researchers have developed technologies that could be used to rewrite the genetic code of a living cell, allowing them to make large-scale edits...

Living in the Digital Ecosystem
From ACM News

Living in the Digital Ecosystem

LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman talks data mash-ups, entrepreneurship, and how his site keeps people honest.

Safer Skies
From ACM News

Safer Skies

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated that by 2020, all commercial aircraft—and small aircraft flying near most airports—must be equipped with...
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