acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

News


bg-corner

An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


John Rogers's Bendable Microprocessors
From ACM News

John Rogers's Bendable Microprocessors

John Rogers was in his lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign six years ago, testing new ways to make electronic circuits, when one of his team...

Future Computers Could Rewire Themselves
From ACM News

Future Computers Could Rewire Themselves

Future microchips may have only one type of component, capable of rewiring itself to do different jobs. Researchers from Northwestern University in the U.S. have...

How Revolutionary Tools Cracked a 1700s Code
From ACM News

How Revolutionary Tools Cracked a 1700s Code

It has been more than six decades since Warren Weaver, a pioneer in automated language translation, suggested applying code-breaking techniques to the challenge...

John McCarthy
From ACM News

John McCarthy

When IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer won its famous chess rematch with then world champion Garry Kasparov in May 1997, the victory was hailed far and wide as a...

Precision-Controlled Microbots Show They Could Take On Industrial-Scale Jobs
From ACM News

Precision-Controlled Microbots Show They Could Take On Industrial-Scale Jobs

A pioneering research institute that introduced the computer world to the mouse, hypertext, and networks is now setting its sights a bit lower.

Tiny Stamps for Tiny Sensors
From ACM News

Tiny Stamps for Tiny Sensors

Advances in microchip technology may someday enable clinicians to perform tests for hundreds of diseases—sifting out specific molecules, such as early stage cancer...

Kurzweil Responds: Don't ­nderestimate the Singularity
From ACM TechNews

Kurzweil Responds: Don't ­nderestimate the Singularity

Paul Allen and a colleague recently challenged inventor and author Ray Kurzweil's prediction that computers will soon surpass human intelligence, an event known...

How Google's Self-Driving Car Works
From ACM News

How Google's Self-Driving Car Works

Once a secret project, Google's autonomous vehicles are now out in the open, quite literally, with the company test-driving them on public roads and, on one occasion...

PingPong-Playing Robots Debut
From ACM News

PingPong-Playing Robots Debut

Robots are already taking away jobs at factories. Now, it appears, they're ready to rule the table tennis court, too. Two pingpong-playing humanoid robots named...

From ACM News

Control a Wheelchair By Biting and Blinking

Imagine: You're paralyzed from the neck down, a full-on quadriplegic with what doctors refer to as a "high level spinal cord injury." How do you get around?

Could a Computer One Day Rewire Itself?
From ACM TechNews

Could a Computer One Day Rewire Itself?

Northwestern University researchers have developed a nanomaterial that can guide electrical currents, which could lead to a computer that can redesign its internal...

Table Salt Found to Boost Data Storage Density
From ACM TechNews

Table Salt Found to Boost Data Storage Density

Table salt could be used to increase the capacity of hard drives from as much as 4 Tbytes today to more than 21 Tbytes, according to researchers at the Institute...

Seeing Through Walls
From ACM News

Seeing Through Walls

Researchers at MIT's Lincoln Lab have developed new radar technology that provides real-time video of what’s going on behind solid walls.

Zot! Uc Irvine Team Proves Stellar at Mapping Dark Matter
From ACM News

Zot! Uc Irvine Team Proves Stellar at Mapping Dark Matter

When David Kirkby and Daniel Margala entered a contest to find out who could most accurately map dark matter in the universe, the first algorithm they submitted...

From ACM Opinion

Dennis Ritchie: The Shoulders Steve Jobs Stood On

The tributes to Dennis Ritchie won’t match the river of praise that spilled out over the web after the death of Steve Jobs. But they should.

From ACM Opinion

The Singularity Isn't Near

 Futurists like Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil have argued that the world is rapidly approaching a tipping point, where the accelerating pace of smarter and smarter...

Design Spotlight Is Thrown on Ive
From ACM News

Design Spotlight Is Thrown on Ive

Without Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. investors and customers are asking a big question: Can it continue to turn out innovative products without its co-founder and design...

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...

Paralyzed Man Uses Brain-Powered Robot Arm to Touch
From ACM News

Paralyzed Man Uses Brain-Powered Robot Arm to Touch

Giving a high-five. Rubbing his girlfriend's hand. Such ordinary acts—but a milestone for a paralyzed man. True, a robotic arm parked next to his wheelchair did...

From ACM News

In Supercomputing, a Turn to Energy-Saving Graphics Chips

In computing, as in so many fields, the best path to progress is often not a straight line.
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account