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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.


Mercury in Retrograde Now, Stumping Scientists Always
From ACM News

Mercury in Retrograde Now, Stumping Scientists Always

Until April 15, here's a convenient excuse for any troubles in your life: It's all the fault of a quirk of the planetary dance that constantly unfolds across our...

A Tough Task for Facebook: European-Type Privacy for All
From ACM News

A Tough Task for Facebook: European-Type Privacy for All

Next month, a comprehensive new data protection law goes into effect in the European Union, placing greater requirements on how companies like Facebook and Google...

Beijing Launches Pioneering Brain-Science Centre
From ACM News

Beijing Launches Pioneering Brain-Science Centre

Beijing has announced plans to build a brain-science centre that will rival in size some of the world's largest neuroscience organizations. It will also serve as...

A Brain-Boosting Prosthesis Moves From Rats to Humans
From ACM News

A Brain-Boosting Prosthesis Moves From Rats to Humans

The shape on the screen appears only briefly—just long enough for the test subject to commit it to memory. At the same time, an electrical signal snakes past the...

The Quest to Map the Mysteries of the Ocean Floor
From ACM News

The Quest to Map the Mysteries of the Ocean Floor

Geologists have charted mountain ranges and forests and desert tundras, astronomers the heavens above, yet our planet's oceans remain largely unexplored; it's often...

Your Alexa and Fitbit Can Testify Against You in Court
From ACM News

Your Alexa and Fitbit Can Testify Against You in Court

Ross Compton had no idea his pacemaker would finger him for arson.

The Next NSA Chief Is More ­sed to Cyberwar Than Spy Games
From ACM News

The Next NSA Chief Is More ­sed to Cyberwar Than Spy Games

After sailing through two friendly Senate hearings—one so uncontroversial that only six senators tops bothered to even show up at any given point in the hour—Lieutenant...

John Bolton, Cyber Warrior
From ACM News

John Bolton, Cyber Warrior

John Bolton has spent years imploring the U.S. to go on the attack in cyberspace—a stance that some digital warfare experts caution could set up the nation for...

Hubble ­ncovers the Farthest Star Ever Seen
From ACM News

Hubble ­ncovers the Farthest Star Ever Seen

More than halfway across the universe, an enormous blue star nicknamed Icarus is the farthest individual star ever seen.

Tech Thinks It Has a Fix for the Problems It Created: Blockchain
From ACM News

Tech Thinks It Has a Fix for the Problems It Created: Blockchain

Entrepreneurs, companies, and governments look to use databases like Blockchain—often independent of Bitcoin—to solve some of the most intractable issues facing...

Military Documents Reveal How the ­S Army Plans to Deploy AI in Future Wars
From ACM News

Military Documents Reveal How the ­S Army Plans to Deploy AI in Future Wars

Tomorrow's wars will be fought with a lethal combination of soldiers, drones, and AI-powered systems. The Internet of Battle Things, as it's being called, is a vast...

'Bar Codes' Could Trace Errant Brain Wiring in Autism and Schizophrenia
From ACM News

'Bar Codes' Could Trace Errant Brain Wiring in Autism and Schizophrenia

Neuroscientists today know a lot about how individual neurons operate but remarkably little about how large numbers of them work together to produce thoughts, feelings...

Trump's China Concern Adds Pressure in Race to Be First With 5G
From ACM News

Trump's China Concern Adds Pressure in Race to Be First With 5G

The Trump administration's concern about China's growing technology clout is putting even more pressure on U.S. wireless carriers in their marketing battle over...

Need to Make a Molecule? Ask This AI for Instructions
From ACM News

Need to Make a Molecule? Ask This AI for Instructions

Chemists have a new lab assistant: artificial intelligence. Researchers have developed a "deep learning" computer program that produces blueprints for the sequences...

To Speed ­p AI, Mix Memory and Processing
From ACM News

To Speed ­p AI, Mix Memory and Processing

If John von Neumann were designing a computer today, there's no way he would build a thick wall between processing and memory. At least, that's what computer engineer Naresh...

Companies Seek Ways to Hold On to Customer Data ­nder New E­ Privacy Law
From ACM News

Companies Seek Ways to Hold On to Customer Data ­nder New E­ Privacy Law

Nicholas Oliver gathers reams of personal information about users of his mobile app: age, sex, location, profession, relationship status, and more—and uses it to...

'Marsquakes' Could Shake ­p Planetary Science
From ACM News

'Marsquakes' Could Shake ­p Planetary Science

Starting next year, scientists will get their first look deep below the surface of Mars.

The Scant Science Behind Cambridge Analytica's Controversial Marketing Techniques 
From ACM News

The Scant Science Behind Cambridge Analytica's Controversial Marketing Techniques 

The practices of Cambridge Analytica, a data-analytics firm involved in US President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, have made headlines around the world...

Are We Already Living in Virtual Reality?
From ACM News

Are We Already Living in Virtual Reality?

Thomas Metzinger had his first out-of-body experience when he was nineteen.

A Needle in a Legal Haystack Could Sink a Major Supreme Court Privacy Case
From ACM News

A Needle in a Legal Haystack Could Sink a Major Supreme Court Privacy Case

It looks like one of the marquee cases before the U.S. Supreme Court is about to go bust—sabotaged by a needle in a legislative haystack.
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