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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.


This Robot Can Rap—Really
From ACM TechNews

This Robot Can Rap—Really

A Georgia Institute of Technology music technologist modified an improvisational musical robot called Shimon to create lyrics and perform rap in real time.

'Superhuman' AI Triumphs Playing the Toughest Board Games
From ACM TechNews

'Superhuman' AI Triumphs Playing the Toughest Board Games

DeepMind's self-learning AlphaZero algorithm has demonstrated superhuman success at complex board games including chess, shogi, and go.

Robots, Start Your Engines!
From ACM News

Robots, Start Your Engines!

There's nothing like a throw-down to push new technologies out to the masses.

When Hatred Goes Viral: Inside Social Media's Efforts to Combat Terrorism
From ACM News

When Hatred Goes Viral: Inside Social Media's Efforts to Combat Terrorism

On New Year's Eve in 2015 local and federal agents arrested a 26-year-old man in Rochester, N.Y., for planning to attack people at random later that night using...

Ghost in the Sell: Hollywood's Mischievous Vision of AI
From ACM Opinion

Ghost in the Sell: Hollywood's Mischievous Vision of AI

Watch enough science fiction movies and you'll probably come to the conclusion that humans are living on borrowed time.

Will Millimeter Waves Maximize 5g Wireless?
From ACM Opinion

Will Millimeter Waves Maximize 5g Wireless?

Every decade or so since the first cellular networks appeared the companies that make mobile devices and the networks linking them have worked out new requirements...

Watch the Earth From Space, Live!
From ACM News

Watch the Earth From Space, Live!

It doesn't get much better than this (well, of course being in space might be better, albeit colder).

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success
From ACM Opinion

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success

When Microsoft launched its research labs in 1991, the personal computer was just beginning to blossom into a worldwide phenomenon, thanks in no small part to Windows...

How the Fifa 14 Soccer Video Game Finally Got Its Physics Right
From ACM News

How the Fifa 14 Soccer Video Game Finally Got Its Physics Right

When the soccer video game FIFA 14 went on sale last week, it boasted a ball that, at long last, could sail smartly through the air.

Manage Your Smart Home with a Single Gesture
From ACM News

Manage Your Smart Home with a Single Gesture

Our homes will get a lot smarter in the coming years, allowing us to use a smartphone to manage an integrated system of appliances and other electronics from any...

When Will Smartglasses and Other Wearable Computers Hit the Mainstream?
From ACM Opinion

When Will Smartglasses and Other Wearable Computers Hit the Mainstream?

Google has stoked our collective imagination via relentless promotion of its Google Glass wearable computer in recent months.

The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper Versus Screens
From ACM News

The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper Versus Screens

In a viral YouTube video from October 2011 a one-year-old girl sweeps her fingers across an iPad's touchscreen, shuffling groups of icons.

Why Are Micro Movies So Popular These Days?
From ACM TechNews

Why Are Micro Movies So Popular These Days?

Online micro videos are enjoying a surge in popularity, despite a lack of advanced technology. 

From ACM News

Inside the Mind of a Video Game Champ

If there is one general rule about the limitations of the human mind, it is that we are terrible at multitasking.

Light at the End of the Racetrack: How Pixar Explored the Physics of Light for Cars 2
From ACM News

Light at the End of the Racetrack: How Pixar Explored the Physics of Light for Cars 2

Although the stories told by Pixar Animation Studios take place in richly realized fantasy realms, the science and technology required to create those worlds...

Hackers Harness Microsoft's Kinect For Business and Pleasure
From ACM News

Hackers Harness Microsoft's Kinect For Business and Pleasure

Gamers and hackers could control the office as well as games with Microsoft's Kinect.

Gigapixel Cameras Create Highly Revealing Snapshots
From ACM TechNews

Gigapixel Cameras Create Highly Revealing Snapshots

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has been developing a camera that can take gigapixel images with one snapshot. Columbia University researchers...

Robocup 2010: Could Robot Versus Human Be Far Behind?
From ACM TechNews

Robocup 2010: Could Robot Versus Human Be Far Behind?

The goal of the RoboCup 2010 competition in Singapore is to advance the real-world applications of robotics and eventually to build a robot team that can beat the...

Binary Body Double: Microsoft Reveals the Science Behind Project Natal for Xbox 360
From ACM News

Binary Body Double: Microsoft Reveals the Science Behind Project Natal for Xbox 360

When Nintendo's Wii game console debuted in November 2006, its motion-sensing handheld "Wiimotes" got players off the couch and onto their feet. Now Microsoft...

Gaming Tech Aids Scientists Building Virtual Synthetic Chromatophore
From ACM News

Gaming Tech Aids Scientists Building Virtual Synthetic Chromatophore

Researchers are relying on graphics processing units to help build a highly complex computer simulation depicting how chromatophore proteins create photosynthesis...
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