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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.


We Don't Need Humans on Mars
From ACM Opinion

We Don't Need Humans on Mars

The two mobile robots Spirit and Opportunity were launched from Earth in 2003 and arrived on opposite sides of Mars in 2004. A suite of cameras, instruments, and...

Should Cops Be Allowed to Take Control of Self-Driving Cars?
From ACM News

Should Cops Be Allowed to Take Control of Self-Driving Cars?

A few lines in a seemingly routine RAND Corp. report on the future of technology and law enforcement last week raised a provocative question: Should police have...

Human Weakness in Cybersecurity
From ACM News

Human Weakness in Cybersecurity

The Joint Chiefs of Staff unclassified email system is now back online, after having been down for more than two weeks, following a breach that some officials have...

What a Comet Looks Like … From 9 Meters Away!
From ACM News

What a Comet Looks Like … From 9 Meters Away!

The European Space Agency has just released some fantastic close-up images taken by the Philae lander of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The Social Security Number's Insecurities
From ACM Opinion

The Social Security Number's Insecurities

In both the Anthem insurance hack and the two Office of Personnel Management hacks this year, attackers gained access to Social Security numbers, affecting 80 million...

So Sayeth Google
From ACM Opinion

So Sayeth Google

Search for "vaccines." At least within our filter bubble, the top item in Google's "In the news" section earlier this week was an anti-vax column about the "feds'...

Dumbing It Down in the Cockpit
From ACM Opinion

Dumbing It Down in the Cockpit

Long gone are the leather jackets, goggles, and silk scarves flung over the shoulders of aviators who wrestled with flight controls, furiously scanned instruments...

How Not to Build a Brain
From ACM Opinion

How Not to Build a Brain

Building a brain sounds like a worthy goal, one that makes it seem as though the future is within reach.

The Quadriplegic Who Moved His Hand
From ACM News

The Quadriplegic Who Moved His Hand

Ian Burkhart was 19 and fearless and horsing around in the surf with friends on vacation in North Carolina’s Outer Banks when he mistimed a dive and a wave drove...

Why Did the Justice Department Indict Five Chinese Military Officers?
From ACM Opinion

Why Did the Justice Department Indict Five Chinese Military Officers?

At first glance, the Justice Department's 31-count indictment of five Chinese military officers for hacking into the computers of six American corporations, in...

Military Moves Closer to Truly Autonomous Drones
From ACM News

Military Moves Closer to Truly Autonomous Drones

Imagine a flying machine equipped with bombs and missiles, navigating the skies stealthily without human control.

Why You Should Care About Robocup
From ACM News

Why You Should Care About Robocup

This month, soccer fans are glued to Euro 2012. But another prestigious championship is about to kick off, too. The game is slower—much slower—and the players fall...

A Brief History of Warnings About the Demise of Moore's Law
From ACM News

A Brief History of Warnings About the Demise of Moore's Law

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku rekindled a perennial discussion last week by saying Moore's Law, the pacesetter of technological advancement over the last half...

From ACM News

Eyeball-Movement-Based Navigation Shifting From Helping the Disabled to Mainstream ­se?

That Kindle Fire you got for Christmas may be pretty cool, but what if it could flip the book pages without requiring you to lift a finger?

From ACM News

Will Robots Steal Your Job as a Scientist?

Can robots work as scientists? At first, this seems like a silly question. Computers are pervasive in science, and if you walk into a large university lab today...

Computers Are Not Humans
From ACM TechNews

Computers Are Not Humans

The meaning that humans associate with words, phrases, sentences, and stories is grounded in human experience, writes David Ferrucci, lead researcher for IBM's...

Building Robots that Understand Human Emotions and Make People Healthier
From ACM News

Building Robots that Understand Human Emotions and Make People Healthier

 For most of us, the closest we get to a robot in daily life is a Roomba. But Dr. Cynthia Breazeal, director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab...

David Ferrucci, Lead Researcher of Ibm's Watson Project
From ACM News

David Ferrucci, Lead Researcher of Ibm's Watson Project

How do you improve on a computer that beat the world's best Jeopardy! players? Have Watson team up with humanity.

Can Washington Get America's Economy Moving Again with Cash Rewards?
From ACM News

Can Washington Get America's Economy Moving Again with Cash Rewards?

In the flurry of activity at the end of the 111th Congress, the reauthorization of the "America COMPETES Act" went mostly unnoticed. But it is a little bill that...

From ACM Opinion

"this Paper Should Not Have Been Published"

Scientists see fatal flaws in the NASA study of arsenic-based life.
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