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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.


Virtual City Walkthroughs Help to Find Pedestrian Death Traps
From ACM TechNews

Virtual City Walkthroughs Help to Find Pedestrian Death Traps

Columbia University researchers are using home-built software to examine Google Street View images to identify locations in New York City where pedestrians are...

Glowing 4d-Printed Flowers Could Pave Way For Replacement Organs
From ACM News

Glowing 4d-Printed Flowers Could Pave Way For Replacement Organs

This delicate, glowing flower could one day save your life. It’s the latest example of "4D printing"–3D printed objects that change their shape over time—and it...

Future Delivery Drones Start Learning How to Fly on Their Own
From ACM TechNews

Future Delivery Drones Start Learning How to Fly on Their Own

Boston University researchers are developing ways to enable drones to learn how to fly on their own. 

Scenic Sat-Nav Will Take You on the Prettiest Route
From ACM TechNews

Scenic Sat-Nav Will Take You on the Prettiest Route

Autobahn is an artificial intelligence system that can use Google Street View images to optimize a driving route for a particular type of scenery. 

Smart Clothes Adapt So You Are Always the Right Temperature
From ACM TechNews

Smart Clothes Adapt So You Are Always the Right Temperature

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding research into clothing that can change its thermal properties to adapt to the environment, as well as to the body of the...

Race of World's Tiniest Cars Set to Drive Nano-Robot Revolution
From ACM TechNews

Race of World's Tiniest Cars Set to Drive Nano-Robot Revolution

Scientists from around the world will meet in Toulouse, France, in November for the world's first car race conducted at the nanoscopic level. 

Philae Lander Fails to Respond to Last-Ditch Efforts to Wake It
From ACM News

Philae Lander Fails to Respond to Last-Ditch Efforts to Wake It

Farewell, Philae. The space lander that touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (and in our hearts) in November 2014 has not responded to a last-ditch attempt...

Taskmaster Robots Watch While You Work in Case You Miss a Step
From ACM TechNews

Taskmaster Robots Watch While You Work in Case You Miss a Step

Researchers have developed a robot that can watch people work, learn the steps that make up the task, and remind people when they forget a step. 

Want a Computer That Never Crashes? Don't Let Bugs Freak It Out
From ACM TechNews

Want a Computer That Never Crashes? Don't Let Bugs Freak It Out

Developers' perception of software bugs must shift from something that must be found and removed at all costs to an unavoidable fact of life. 

IBM to Develop Hardware to Wipe Out Errors in Quantum Computing
From ACM News

IBM to Develop Hardware to Wipe Out Errors in Quantum Computing

The race to build a full-blown quantum computer is heating up.

Man With No Limbs Controls Robotic Hand ­sing Muscle Whispers
From ACM TechNews

Man With No Limbs Controls Robotic Hand ­sing Muscle Whispers

Sam Wilson, a Ph.D. student at Imperial College London, and supervisor Ravi Vaidyanathan are designing new ways for the human body to control prostheses. 

Blood Gushes from Virtual Leg Injury to Help Train Combat Medics
From ACM News

Blood Gushes from Virtual Leg Injury to Help Train Combat Medics

If you're very squeamish, look away now.

Cyborg Rose Has Electric Circuits Running Through Polymer Veins
From ACM TechNews

Cyborg Rose Has Electric Circuits Running Through Polymer Veins

Swedish researchers built a working electronic circuit from an ordinary garden rose by filling its veins with conductive polymer. This is the first step toward...

Silicon 2.0 Promises Superpowered Chips and Solar Cells
From ACM TechNews

Silicon 2.0 Promises Superpowered Chips and Solar Cells

Silicon's limited electrical conductivity holds back computer processing speeds and the efficiency of solar panels. Ordinary silicon enhanced with certain abilities...

Into the ­ncanny Valley: 80 Robot Faces Ranked By Creepiness
From ACM TechNews

Into the ­ncanny Valley: 80 Robot Faces Ranked By Creepiness

Recent experiments sought to determine the scope of the uncanny valley--the point at which a lifelike robot stops attracting people and instead repels them.

Closing the Last Loophole For ­nhackable Quantum Security
From ACM TechNews

Closing the Last Loophole For ­nhackable Quantum Security

The perfection of device-independent quantum cryptography will enable devices that guarantee the messages sent on them remain confidential. 

Smart Glasses Translate Video Into Sound to Help the Blind See
From ACM News

Smart Glasses Translate Video Into Sound to Help the Blind See

Blind people have long relied on sound as a substitution for sight, and some even use echolocation to navigate around objects. But it turns out that sound can be...

Quantum Technology Set to Hit the Streets Within Two Years
From ACM TechNews

Quantum Technology Set to Hit the Streets Within Two Years

The United Kingdom kicked off an initiative in 2013 that could result in the development of the world's most powerful quantum computer by 2020. 

Inside China's Plan to Give Every Citizen a Character Score
From ACM News

Inside China's Plan to Give Every Citizen a Character Score

Where you go, what you buy, who you know, how many points are on your driving licence, how your pupils rate you.

Activist Bots Recruit Humans to Their Cause on Twitter
From ACM TechNews

Activist Bots Recruit Humans to Their Cause on Twitter

The Botivist program uses Twitter to rally people to social causes, thanks to the efforts of Saiph Savage and colleagues at West Virginia University. 
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