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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.


These Perfectly Imperfect Diamonds Are Built for Quantum Physics
From ACM News

These Perfectly Imperfect Diamonds Are Built for Quantum Physics

In the mid-2000S, diamonds were the hot new thing in physics. It wasn't because of their size, color, or sparkle, though.

Modeling ­ncertainty Helps MIT's Drone Zip Around Obstacles
From ACM News

Modeling ­ncertainty Helps MIT's Drone Zip Around Obstacles

It's not too hard to make a drone that can fly very fast, and it's not too hard to make a drone that can avoid obstacles.

How Artificial Intelligence Is Edging Its Way Into Our Lives
From ACM News

How Artificial Intelligence Is Edging Its Way Into Our Lives

In Phoenix, Ariz., cars are self-navigating the streets. In many homes, people are barking commands at tiny machines, with the machines responding. On our smartphones...

Blockchain Explained: It Builds Trust When You Need It Most
From ACM Opinion

Blockchain Explained: It Builds Trust When You Need It Most

These days, we're having a harder and harder time trusting each other.

How Quantum Dots Supercharge Farming, Medicine and Solar, Too
From ACM News

How Quantum Dots Supercharge Farming, Medicine and Solar, Too

What if you could grow vegetables in half the time? What if a surgeon could see cancerous cells throughout an entire operation? What if solar panels could become...

How Nuclear Weapons Research Revealed New Climate Threats
From ACM News

How Nuclear Weapons Research Revealed New Climate Threats

After atmospheric scientist Ivana Cvijanovic began pushing a computerized climate simulation to its limits, she noticed a disturbing result: as Arctic sea ice nearly...

Mind the Gap: This Researcher Steals Data With Noise, Light, and Magnets
From ACM News

Mind the Gap: This Researcher Steals Data With Noise, Light, and Magnets

The field of cybersecurity is obsessed with preventing and detecting breaches, finding every possible strategy to keep hackers from infiltrating your digital inner...

Can Computers Learn Like Humans?
From ACM News

Can Computers Learn Like Humans?

The world of artificial intelligence has exploded in recent years. Computers armed with AI do everything from drive cars to pick movies you'll probably like.

AI Just Learned How to Boost the Brain's Memory
From ACM News

AI Just Learned How to Boost the Brain's Memory

When it comes to black boxes, there is none more black than the human brain. Our gray matter is so complex, scientists lament, that it can't quite understand itself...

Newly Discovered Form of Water Ice Is 'really Strange'
From ACM News

Newly Discovered Form of Water Ice Is 'really Strange'

Scientists have confirmed a form of water that is simultaneously solid and liquid. It is the latest advance in the study of water, a seemingly simple substance...

New Nasa Space Sensors to Address Key Earth Questions
From ACM News

New Nasa Space Sensors to Address Key Earth Questions

Why is the Arctic warming faster than the rest of the planet?

The Era of Quantum Computing Is Here. Outlook: Cloudy
From ACM News

The Era of Quantum Computing Is Here. Outlook: Cloudy

After decades of heavy slog with no promise of success, quantum computing is suddenly buzzing with almost feverish excitement and activity.

Quantum Algorithm Could Help AI Think Faster
From ACM TechNews

Quantum Algorithm Could Help AI Think Faster

Researchers at the Center for Quantum Technologies in Singapore propose a "quantum linear system algorithm" to help crunch numbers on a wide array of problems. ...

How to Control a Machine ­sing Your Mind
From ACM News

How to Control a Machine ­sing Your Mind

Bill Kochevar's life was changed, seemingly irrevocably, when he was paralysed from the shoulders down following a cycling accident nearly a decade ago.

Physicists Harness Twisted Mathematics to Make Powerful Laser
From ACM News

Physicists Harness Twisted Mathematics to Make Powerful Laser

Researchers have exploited the twisty nature of topological physics to produce a high-quality beam of laser light—a step that could lead to the first practical...

If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know. (and Amazon Has a Patent For It.)
From ACM News

If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know. (and Amazon Has a Patent For It.)

What if your employer made you wear a wristband that tracked your every move, and that even nudged you via vibrations when it judged that you were doing something...

A Small-Scale Demonstration Shows How Quantum Computing Could Revolutionize Data Analysis
From ACM TechNews

A Small-Scale Demonstration Shows How Quantum Computing Could Revolutionize Data Analysis

An experiment by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China used quantum computers to calculate Betti numbers. The work "suggests that data...

China Wants to Make the Chips that Will Add AI to Any Gadget
From ACM News

China Wants to Make the Chips that Will Add AI to Any Gadget

In an office at Tsinghua University in Beijing, a computer chip is crunching data from a nearby camera, looking for faces stored in a database.

Inside Amazon's Artificial Intelligence Flywheel
From ACM Careers

Inside Amazon's Artificial Intelligence Flywheel

In early 2014, Srikanth Thirumalai met with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Speed of Light Could Be Dropped to Zero ­sing Crystals
From ACM News

Speed of Light Could Be Dropped to Zero ­sing Crystals

In a vacuum like space, the speed of light is just over 186,280 miles per second. Scientists have now shown it's possible to slow it down to zero miles per second...
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