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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.


A Robot Finds Its Way ­sing Artificial 'gps' Brain Cells
From ACM News

A Robot Finds Its Way ­sing Artificial 'gps' Brain Cells

The behavior and interplay of two types of neurons in the brain helps give humans and other animals an uncanny ability to navigate by building a mental map of their...

Seeing Stars, Again: Naval Academy Reinstates Celestial Navigation
From ACM Careers

Seeing Stars, Again: Naval Academy Reinstates Celestial Navigation

The same techniques guided ancient Polynesians in the open Pacific and led Sir Ernest Shackleton to remote Antarctica, then oriented astronauts when the Apollo...

The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy
From ACM News

The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy

In the Northern hemisphere's sky, hovering above the Milky Way, there are two constellations—Cygnus the swan, her wings outstretched in full flight, and Lyra, the...

Vast Cosmic Voids Merge Like Soap Bubbles
From ACM News

Vast Cosmic Voids Merge Like Soap Bubbles

Vast regions of near-empty space in the Universe are growing and shrinking, much as bubbles merge and separate in soapsuds, astronomers have discovered.

How the Nsa Can Break Trillions of Encrypted Web and Vpn Connections
From ACM News

How the Nsa Can Break Trillions of Encrypted Web and Vpn Connections

For years, privacy advocates have pushed developers of websites, virtual private network apps, and other cryptographic software to adopt the Diffie-Hellman cryptographic...

An Error Leads to a New Way to Draw, and Erase, Computing Circuits
From ACM News

An Error Leads to a New Way to Draw, and Erase, Computing Circuits

For the physics researcher Andrew L. Yeats, a light-bulb moment led to an important new insight.

IBM Making Plans to Commercialize Its Brain-Inspired Chip
From ACM News

IBM Making Plans to Commercialize Its Brain-Inspired Chip

In August last year, IBM unveiled a chip designed to operate something like the neurons and synapses of the brain (see "IBM Chip Process Data Similar to the Way...

Sensors May Soon Give Prosthetics a Lifelike Sense of Touch
From ACM News

Sensors May Soon Give Prosthetics a Lifelike Sense of Touch

Prosthetic limbs may work wonders for restoring lost function in some amputees, but one thing they can't do is restore an accurate sense of touch.

Closest Northern Views of Saturn's Moon Enceladus
From ACM News

Closest Northern Views of Saturn's Moon Enceladus

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has begun returning its best-ever views of the northern extremes of Saturn's icy, ocean-bearing moon Enceladus.

An Algorithm Helps Robots Fall Safely
From ACM News

An Algorithm Helps Robots Fall Safely

At a major robotics competition held in June, several multi-million-dollar robots struggled to perform even simple tasks like climbing a flight of stairs; someimpeccable...

Hackers Can Silently Control Siri From 16 Feet Away
From ACM News

Hackers Can Silently Control Siri From 16 Feet Away

Siri may be your personal assistant. But your voice is not the only one she listens to.

Pluto's Geology Is Unlike Any Other
From ACM News

Pluto's Geology Is Unlike Any Other

Take a pinch of Mars, a sprinkle of Saturn's moon Iapetus and a dash of Neptune's moon Triton—and the recipe will yield something like Pluto.

Despite Exposure, New Nations Joining Cyberespionage Game
From ACM News

Despite Exposure, New Nations Joining Cyberespionage Game

Researchers say some smaller, poorer nations are now using spy software, suggesting that recent data leaks and lawsuits have not deterred governments from investing...

If You're Not Paranoid, You're Crazy
From ACM Opinion

If You're Not Paranoid, You're Crazy

I knew we'd bought walnuts at the store that week, and I wanted to add some to my oatmeal.

Cyber Insurance Premiums Rocket After High-Profile Attacks
From ACM News

Cyber Insurance Premiums Rocket After High-Profile Attacks

A rash of hacking attacks on U.S. companies over the past two years has prompted insurers to massively increase cyber premiums for some companies, leaving firms...

Her Code Got Humans on the Moon—and Invented Software Itself
From ACM Careers

Her Code Got Humans on the Moon—and Invented Software Itself

Margaret Hamilton wasn't supposed to invent the modern concept of software and land men on the moon.

Cassini Begins Series of Flybys with Close-up of Saturn Moon Enceladus
From ACM News

Cassini Begins Series of Flybys with Close-up of Saturn Moon Enceladus

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will wrap up its time in the region of Saturn's large, icy moons with a series of three close encounters with Enceladus starting Wednesday...

Cops Don't Need a Crypto Backdoor to Get Into Your Iphone
From ACM News

Cops Don't Need a Crypto Backdoor to Get Into Your Iphone

Late last week, the privacy community scored a victory in a year-long battle over the future of encryption: In internal discussions, the White House quietly overruled...

How Soviets ­sed IBM Selectric Keyloggers to Spy on ­S Diplomats
From ACM News

How Soviets ­sed IBM Selectric Keyloggers to Spy on ­S Diplomats

A National Security Agency memo that recently resurfaced a few years after it was first published contains a detailed analysis of what very possibly was the world's...

Brain Scans Pinpoint Individuals from a Crowd
From ACM News

Brain Scans Pinpoint Individuals from a Crowd

Our brains are wired in such distinctive ways that an individual can be identified on the basis of brain-scan images alone, neuroscientists report.
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