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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.


From ACM News

'predator' Smart Camera Locks Onto, Tracks Anything

Zdenek Kalal’s Predator object-tracking software is almost uncanny. Show anything to its all-seeing camera eye, and it will quickly learn to recognize it and...

Ancient Greek Computer Had Surprising Sun Tracker
From ACM News

Ancient Greek Computer Had Surprising Sun Tracker

The world's oldest astronomical calculator is famous for having intricate gear systems centuries ahead of their time. But new work shows the Antikythera mechanism...

Attack Code for SCADA Vulnerabilities Released Online
From ACM News

Attack Code for SCADA Vulnerabilities Released Online

The security of critical infrastructure is in the spotlight again this week after a researcher released attack code that can exploit several vulnerabilities found...

Tiny 3-D-Printed Insect Robots Take Flight
From ACM News

Tiny 3-D-Printed Insect Robots Take Flight

A team of roboticists at Cornell University have created tiny flying robotic insects using 3-D printing. The flapping wings of the hovering robotic insects (known...

Dissecting the Physics of Basketball Bank Shots
From ACM News

Dissecting the Physics of Basketball Bank Shots

Here’s the scenario: You’re a college basketball player and your team is down by one. You’ve got a trip to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on the line, but...

Data as Art: 10 Striking Science Maps
From ACM News

Data as Art: 10 Striking Science Maps

The computer age triggered a seemingly endless stream of scientific data, but such incoming mountains of information come at a cost. The more data you amass,...

From ACM News

The 'Panda' That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google

Google's new update to its search engine addressed the growing complaint that low-quality content sites (derisively referred to as content farms) were ranked higher...

From ACM News

Is the Navy Trying to Start the Robot Apocalypse?

Whenever the military rolls out a new robot program, folks like to joke about SkyNet or the Rise of the Machines. But this time, the military really is starting...

Thinking Your Way Through Traffic in a Brain-Control Car
From ACM News

Thinking Your Way Through Traffic in a Brain-Control Car

John Prine wasn’t far off when he sang in "Living In the Future" that "we're all driving rocket ships and talking with our minds." We're still waiting for our...

DARPA
From ACM News

DARPA

Perhaps you thought the four-legged BigDog robot wasn’t eerily lifelike enough. That'll change soon. BigDog's makers are working on a new quadruped that moves...

The Secret World of Printing Concept Cars in 3D
From ACM News

The Secret World of Printing Concept Cars in 3D

The work that goes into building a physical model of a concept car is usually hidden behind closed doors, known only to engineers sworn to secrecy and similarly...

 Report: Stuxnet Hit 5 Gateway Targets on Its Way to Iranian Plant
From ACM News

Report: Stuxnet Hit 5 Gateway Targets on Its Way to Iranian Plant

Attackers behind the Stuxnet computer worm focused on targeting five organizations in Iran that they believed would get them to their final target in that country...

Pentagon
From ACM News

Pentagon

In the past three years, America’s military and intelligence agencies have spent more than $125 million on computer models that are supposed to forecast political...

­.s. Has Secret Tools to Force Internet on Dictators
From ACM News

­.s. Has Secret Tools to Force Internet on Dictators

When Hosni Mubarak shut down Egypt’s internet and cellphone communications, it seemed that all U.S. officials could do was ask him politely to change his mind...

No Easy Fixes as Internet Runs Out of Addresses
From ACM News

No Easy Fixes as Internet Runs Out of Addresses

Like a prairie with no more vacant land to homestead or a hip area code with no more cellphone numbers, the pool of available numeric internet addresses has been...

Report: Efforts to Secure Nation
From ACM News

Report: Efforts to Secure Nation

The official government cybersecurity standards for the electric power grid fall far short of even the most basic security standards observed by noncritical industries...

Hidden Fractals Suggest Answer to Ancient Math Problem
From ACM News

Hidden Fractals Suggest Answer to Ancient Math Problem

Researchers have found a fractal pattern underlying everyday math. In the process, they’ve discovered a way to calculate partition numbers, a challenge that’s...

Intel Agency: Without Videogames, We
From ACM News

Intel Agency: Without Videogames, We

American intelligence analysts are biased, and therefore make lousy decisions—even the spooky agencies admit that. The spy guys’ new hope for introducing some...

Where High Speed Internet Meets Smart Grid
From ACM News

Where High Speed Internet Meets Smart Grid

Advanced internet technologies, energy management and the smart grid are coming together in an unlikely location: a mid-sized city in the South.

From ACM News

DARPA Wants a New Language to Explain Everything

Darpa has a well-earned rep for some of the most ambitious, over-the-top research programs of all time. But this might be the most over-the-toppest of all. The...
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