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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.


To Siri, With Love
From ACM Opinion

To Siri, With Love

Just how bad a mother am I? I wondered, as I watched my 13-year-old son deep in conversation with Siri.

Cassini Caught in Hyperion's Particle Beam
From ACM News

Cassini Caught in Hyperion's Particle Beam

Static electricity is known to play an important role on Earth's airless, dusty moon, but evidence of static charge building up on other objects in the solar system...

ESA Confirms the Primary Landing Site for Rosetta
From ACM News

ESA Confirms the Primary Landing Site for Rosetta

ESA has given the green light for its Rosetta mission to deliver its lander, Philae, to the primary site on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 12 November, in the first...

Accessibility Claims Expected Over Websites
From ACM Careers

Accessibility Claims Expected Over Websites

Businesses should brace for a new crop of so-called "accessibility" lawsuits alleging that their commercial websites fail to comply with federal disabled-access...

How to Make a Black Hole
From ACM News

How to Make a Black Hole

On July 2, 1967, a network of satellites designed to detect tests of nuclear weapons recorded a flash of gamma rays coming from the wrong direction—outer space.

Nasa Mission Provides Its First Look at Martian Upper Atmosphere
From ACM News

Nasa Mission Provides Its First Look at Martian Upper Atmosphere

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has provided scientists their first look at a storm of energetic solar particles at Mars, produced...

Solid Nanoparticles Can Deform Like a Liquid
From ACM News

Solid Nanoparticles Can Deform Like a Liquid

A surprising phenomenon has been found in metal nanoparticles: They appear, from the outside, to be liquid droplets, wobbling and readily changing shape, while...

Nobel Prize: How English Beat German as Language of Science
From ACM News

Nobel Prize: How English Beat German as Language of Science

Permafrost, oxygen, hydrogen; it all looks like science to me. 

Should Industrial Robots Be Able to Hurt Their Human Coworkers?
From ACM News

Should Industrial Robots Be Able to Hurt Their Human Coworkers?

How much should a robot be allowed to hurt its coworkers?

Gravity Map Uncovers Sea-Floor Surprises
From ACM News

Gravity Map Uncovers Sea-Floor Surprises

s though someone had pulled a plug in the oceans and drained them away, a sea-floor map has exposed thousands of never-before-seen underwater mountains and ridges...

Microsoft's Quantum Mechanics
From ACM News

Microsoft's Quantum Mechanics

In 2012, physicists in the Netherlands announced a discovery in particle physics that started chatter about a Nobel Prize.

Hackers Gather For Cyberwar in an Intense 48-Hour Sim
From ACM Careers

Hackers Gather For Cyberwar in an Intense 48-Hour Sim

Locked Shields is among the world's preeminent cyber attack simulations.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Life in Sharp Focus
From ACM News

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Life in Sharp Focus

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognizes a milestone in a long tradition, dating back to Galileo, of innovations in scientific instruments that have transformed...

Tiny U.s. Region Is Methane 'hot Spot,' Nasa Finds
From ACM News

Tiny U.s. Region Is Methane 'hot Spot,' Nasa Finds

One small "hot spot" in the U.S. Southwest is responsible for producing the largest concentration of the greenhouse gas methane seen over the United States—more...

5 Insights from Vint Cerf on Bitcoin, Net Neutrality and More
From ACM Opinion

5 Insights from Vint Cerf on Bitcoin, Net Neutrality and More

When Vint Cerf, often called the "father of the Internet," is speaking, it's wise to listen.

Found: Closest Link to Eve, Our ­niversal Ancestor
From ACM News

Found: Closest Link to Eve, Our ­niversal Ancestor

A man who died in 315 BC in southern Africa is the closest relative yet known to humanity’s common female ancestor—mitochondrial Eve.

Nasa's Nustar Telescope Discovers Shockingly Bright Dead Star
From ACM News

Nasa's Nustar Telescope Discovers Shockingly Bright Dead Star

Astronomers have found a pulsating, dead star beaming with the energy of about 10 million suns. This is the brightest pulsar—a dense stellar remnant left over from...

Large Hadron Collider: The Big Reboot
From ACM News

Large Hadron Collider: The Big Reboot

Mike Lamont grabs the last croissant from a table and eats it as he walks through the control centre at CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics just...

Why Astronauts Get the 'space Stupids'
From ACM News

Why Astronauts Get the 'space Stupids'

As he was hurtling into orbit, Cosmonaut Gherman Titov had the distinct feeling that his body was cartwheeling through the air.

Your Phone Screen Just Won the Nobel Prize in Physics
From ACM Opinion

Your Phone Screen Just Won the Nobel Prize in Physics

You've probably got the fruits of this year’s Nobel laureates' handiwork in your pocket. In fact, if you're reading this on your phone or a relatively recent flat...
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