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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.


Vision System For Household Robots
From ACM News

Vision System For Household Robots

For household robots ever to be practical, they'll need to be able to recognize the objects they're supposed to manipulate.

The Algorithm That Unscrambles Fractured Images
From ACM News

The Algorithm That Unscrambles Fractured Images

Take a hammer to a mirror and you will fracture the image it produces as well as the glass.

Nasa Mars Rover Opportunity Climbs to High Point on Rim
From ACM News

Nasa Mars Rover Opportunity Climbs to High Point on Rim

After completing two drives this week, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has paused to photograph the panoramic vista from the highest point the rover has...

Robots Are Sneaking ­p On Congress (along with Four Other Tech Trends)
From ACM Opinion

Robots Are Sneaking ­p On Congress (along with Four Other Tech Trends)

One of the best Twitter accounts inside the Beltway or out—belongs to former representativeJohn Dingell (D-Mich.), who announced his retirement with self-effacing...

How Reverse-Engineering the Brain Could Help Machines Learn
From ACM TechNews

How Reverse-Engineering the Brain Could Help Machines Learn

The U.S. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity has announced a research and development program to reverse-engineer the algorithms brains use.

The Leap Second Is About to Rattle the Internet. But There's a Plot to Kill It
From ACM News

The Leap Second Is About to Rattle the Internet. But There's a Plot to Kill It

The Qantas Airways computers started crashing just after midnight.

Scientists Pinpoint Saturn With Exquisite Accuracy
From ACM News

Scientists Pinpoint Saturn With Exquisite Accuracy

Scientists have paired NASA's Cassini spacecraft with the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio-telescope system to pinpoint the position...

A Cyberattack Has Caused Confirmed Physical Damage For the Second Time Ever
From ACM News

A Cyberattack Has Caused Confirmed Physical Damage For the Second Time Ever

Amid all the noise the Sony hack generated over the holidays, a far more troubling cyber attack was largely lost in the chaos. Unless you follow security news closely...

Spin Designers
From ACM TechNews

Spin Designers

The Center for Spintronic Materials, Interfaces, and Novel Architectures wants to use the spin of electrons on nanomagnets to encode zeros and ones in computers...

Why Passenger Planes Can Still Vanish
From ACM News

Why Passenger Planes Can Still Vanish

By Dec. 30, when search teams began to recover debris and bodies from the apparent crash site of AirAsia flight QZ8501, the airline industry had begun to hear renewed...

This Computer Knows When to Hold 'em, Knows When to Fold 'em
From ACM News

This Computer Knows When to Hold 'em, Knows When to Fold 'em

Card sharks, beware. A new program cannot be beaten at a variety of poker called heads-up limit Texas Hold 'em—at least in a human lifetime—a team of computer scientists...

A Spectacular Spiral May Encircle the Milky Way
From ACM News

A Spectacular Spiral May Encircle the Milky Way

Mapping a galaxy isn't easy when you live inside it.

Your Computer Could Help Unlock the Universe’s Mysteries in Its Free Time
From ACM TechNews

Your Computer Could Help Unlock the Universe’s Mysteries in Its Free Time

The University of California, Berkeley's Open Infrastructure for Network Computing program enables PCs to work together to create a virtual supercomputer.

Exoplanet Bounty Includes Most Earth-Like Worlds Yet
From ACM News

Exoplanet Bounty Includes Most Earth-Like Worlds Yet

NASA's Kepler space telescope has hit a milestone: confirming the existence of 1,000 planets, including a fresh crop of alien worlds that are more Earth-like than...

Someday Soon, You May Pay Your Restaurant Bill With A Retina Scan
From ACM News

Someday Soon, You May Pay Your Restaurant Bill With A Retina Scan

The past 30 years have seen payments shift from cash and checks to debit cards and websites, and most recently to mobile phone apps, including Apple Pay and ...

A Visit to the Corporate-Industrial Robotics Competition For Teenagers
From ACM Careers

A Visit to the Corporate-Industrial Robotics Competition For Teenagers

Sometimes I think of school as an overlapping set of calendars.

Galaxy Seen Shuddering from Ancient Collision
From ACM News

Galaxy Seen Shuddering from Ancient Collision

Using thousands of exposures from the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have created the sharpest and deepest image ever assembled of the Andromeda galaxy.

Simple Pictures That State-of-the-Art AI Still Can't Recognize
From ACM News

Simple Pictures That State-of-the-Art AI Still Can't Recognize

Look at these black and yellow bars and tell me what you see.

Predicting Superbugs' Countermoves to New Drugs
From ACM TechNews

Predicting Superbugs' Countermoves to New Drugs

Researchers have developed software that can predict a constantly evolving infectious bacterium's countermoves to new drugs before the drug is tested on patients...

How to Design the Fighter Cockpit of Tomorrow
From ACM News

How to Design the Fighter Cockpit of Tomorrow

If you think your office needs a lick of paint and some new furniture, spare a thought for fighter pilots.
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