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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.


Blossom: A Handmade Approach to Social Robotics From Cornell and Google
From ACM TechNews

Blossom: A Handmade Approach to Social Robotics From Cornell and Google

Blossom is a social robot built from natural materials like cotton and wool.

These Robots Are ­sing Static Electricity to Make Nikes
From ACM Careers

These Robots Are ­sing Static Electricity to Make Nikes

The most labor intensive part of putting together a pair of Nikes is assembling the "upper"—the flexible part of the shoe that sits on top of your foot.

How We Won Gold in the Cyborg Olympics' Brain Race
From ACM Opinion

How We Won Gold in the Cyborg Olympics' Brain Race

In October 2016, inside a sold-out arena in Zurich, a man named Numa Poujouly steered his wheelchair up to the central podium.

Reprogrammed Cells Relieve Parkinson's Symptoms in Trials 
From ACM News

Reprogrammed Cells Relieve Parkinson's Symptoms in Trials 

Japanese researchers report promising results from an experimental therapy for Parkinson's disease that involves implanting neurons made from 'reprogrammed' stem...

The Future of Computing Depends on Making It Reversible
From ACM Opinion

The Future of Computing Depends on Making It Reversible

For more than 50 years, computers have made steady and dramatic improvements, all thanks to Moore's Law—the exponential increase over time in the number of transistors...

The Quest to Perfect the ­niversal Language of Science
From ACM News

The Quest to Perfect the ­niversal Language of Science

For millennia, humans have turned to the sky to tell time.

Cassini's 13 Years of Stunning Saturn Science—in Pictures
From ACM News

Cassini's 13 Years of Stunning Saturn Science—in Pictures

Twenty years ago, in the wee hours of a muggy Florida morning, the Cassini spacecraft lit up the skies as it blasted off from Cape Canaveral.

Nagoya-Led Team Flips the Switch on Ferroelectrics
From ACM TechNews

Nagoya-Led Team Flips the Switch on Ferroelectrics

An international research team has devised a new technique for controlling the domain structure of ferroelectric materials.

With a Simple Dna Test, family Histories Are Rewritten
From ACM News

With a Simple Dna Test, family Histories Are Rewritten

Bob Hutchinson's mother told him and his siblings almost nothing about her family, no matter how often they asked. "She was good at brushing people off," said Mr...

Europe's X-Ray Laser Fires ­p
From ACM News

Europe's X-Ray Laser Fires ­p

Scientists who make movies of molecules in motion have a new high-speed camera to shoot with. The €1.2-billion (US$1.4-billion) European X-ray Free Electron Laser...

Magnetothermal Genetics: A Fourth Tool in the Brain-Hacking Toolbox
From ACM News

Magnetothermal Genetics: A Fourth Tool in the Brain-Hacking Toolbox

A scientist wanting to hack into an animal's brain used to have three different tools to choose from: electric current, drugs, and light. Now there's a fourth:...

Nasa's Next Mars Mission to Investigate Interior of Red Planet
From ACM News

Nasa's Next Mars Mission to Investigate Interior of Red Planet

Preparation of NASA's next spacecraft to Mars, InSight, has ramped up this summer, on course for launch next May from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California...

Conditions Like Those Inside Neptune Cause Diamond Formation
From ACM News

Conditions Like Those Inside Neptune Cause Diamond Formation

Carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are some of the easiest heavier elements to form through fusion.

A Game You Can Control With Your Mind
From ACM News

A Game You Can Control With Your Mind

When you pull the headset over your eyes and the game begins, you are transported to a tiny room with white walls.

Your Broadband Provider Can ­se Your Smart Devices to Spy on You
From ACM News

Your Broadband Provider Can ­se Your Smart Devices to Spy on You

How much of your privacy would you trade for a smarter home? Internet service providers (ISPs) can peek at the internet-connected devices people use in their own...

For Astronomers, a Neutron Star Merger Could Eclipse the Eclipse
From ACM News

For Astronomers, a Neutron Star Merger Could Eclipse the Eclipse

Late last week, as some staff astronomers embarked on trips to see Monday's solar eclipse, two of NASA's space-based observatories—Hubble and Chandra X-ray—and...

How Machine Learning Could Help to Improve Climate Forecasts
From ACM News

How Machine Learning Could Help to Improve Climate Forecasts

As Earth-observing satellites become more plentiful and climate models more powerful, researchers who study global warming are facing a deluge of data.

Secret Chips in Replacement Parts Can Completely Hijack Your Phone's Security
From ACM TechNews

Secret Chips in Replacement Parts Can Completely Hijack Your Phone's Security

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel warn smartphone security can be compromised by repair shops that install replacement parts containing...

With the Uss mccain Collision, Even Navy Tech Can't Overcome Human Shortcomings
From ACM News

With the Uss mccain Collision, Even Navy Tech Can't Overcome Human Shortcomings

In the darkness of early morning on August 21, the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with a tanker in the Strait of Malacca off Singapore.

Blossom: A Handmade Approach to Social Robotics from Cornell and Google
From ACM Opinion

Blossom: A Handmade Approach to Social Robotics from Cornell and Google

As excited as we are about the forthcoming generation of social home robots (including Jibo, Kuri, and many others), it's hard to ignore the fact that most of them...
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