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Latest News News Archive Refine your search:
subjectComputers And Society
authorNew Scientist
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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.


Mind-Reading Tech Helps Beginners Quickly Learn to Play Bach
From ACM News

Mind-Reading Tech Helps Beginners Quickly Learn to Play Bach

Every potential virtuoso needs a mentor. It just so happens that this one is a computer.

3D-Printed Display Lets Blind People Explore Images By Touch
From ACM News

3D-Printed Display Lets Blind People Explore Images By Touch

Blind and partially sighted people often use tactile displays to interact with computers.

Pic-Scanning AI Estimates City Air Pollution From Mass of Photos
From ACM TechNews

Pic-Scanning AI Estimates City Air Pollution From Mass of Photos

A research team at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has designed an application to estimate air quality by analyzing a large number of photos of a...

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...

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

Virtual Human Built from More Than 5,000 Slices of a Real Woman
From ACM News

Virtual Human Built from More Than 5,000 Slices of a Real Woman

She died two decades ago, but her body lives on in digital form.

Forget the Turing Test—there Are Better Ways of Judging AI
From ACM News

Forget the Turing Test—there Are Better Ways of Judging AI

Last Saturday I took part in a battle of wits at Bletchley Park, the stately home that housed the U.K.’s codebreakers during the second world war.

­nhackable Kernel Could Keep All Computers Safe from Cyberattack
From ACM News

­nhackable Kernel Could Keep All Computers Safe from Cyberattack

An autonomous helicopter gunship is flying over a military base in Arizona. Suddenly, officers on the ground lose radio contact: hackers have taken control of an...

Brain-Controlled Smart Home Lets You Turn the Tv On By Thinking
From ACM News

Brain-Controlled Smart Home Lets You Turn the Tv On By Thinking

Feeling cold? Your home already knows, and turns up the heat. Sick of the TV show you are watching? Your home changes the channel.

Can Software Suffer? Death and Pain in Digital Brains
From ACM TechNews

Can Software Suffer? Death and Pain in Digital Brains

The ability to digitally simulate physical systems such as the brain to avoid the ethical dilemmas of experimentation on living subjects creates new dilemmas.

I've Taught Computers to Paint Portraits — and How to Code
From ACM TechNews

I've Taught Computers to Paint Portraits — and How to Code

Falmouth University professor Simon Colton works with software that behaves in ways that would be deemed creative if observed in humans. In an interview, Colton...

AI Football Manager Knows How Different Teams Play the Game
From ACM TechNews

AI Football Manager Knows How Different Teams Play the Game

A team of researchers has used a detailed computer analysis of the 2013-2014 Spanish football league to better understand various teams' different patterns of play...

AI Football Manager Knows How Different Teams Play the Game
From ACM News

AI Football Manager Knows How Different Teams Play the Game

Who really calls the shots in team sports?

Cyber Attack: How Easy Is It to Take Out a Smart City?
From ACM News

Cyber Attack: How Easy Is It to Take Out a Smart City?

When is a smart city not so smart?
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