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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.


The Supreme Court Takes On the Police Use of Cellphone Records
From ACM News

The Supreme Court Takes On the Police Use of Cellphone Records

The Supreme Court has handed down what may be the most important privacy case of the digital era, ruling on Friday that the government cannot force cellphone service...

Why a 40-Year-Old SCOT­S Ruling Against Software Patents Still Matters Today
From ACM News

Why a 40-Year-Old SCOT­S Ruling Against Software Patents Still Matters Today

Forty years ago this week, in the case of Parker v. Flook, the US Supreme Court came close to banning software patents.

Pain Is Weird. Making Bionic Arms Feel Pain Is Even Weirder
From ACM News

Pain Is Weird. Making Bionic Arms Feel Pain Is Even Weirder

Pain is an indispensable tool for survival.

Finally, a Problem That Only Quantum Computers Will Ever Be Able to Solve
From ACM News

Finally, a Problem That Only Quantum Computers Will Ever Be Able to Solve

Early on in the study of quantum computers, computer scientists posed a question whose answer, they knew, would reveal something deep about the power of these futuristic...

How to Control Robots with Brainwaves and Hand Gestures
From ACM News

How to Control Robots with Brainwaves and Hand Gestures

Getting robots to do things isn't easy: Usually, scientists have to either explicitly program them or get them to understand how humans communicate via language...

Martian Dust Storm Grows Global; Curiosity Captures Photos of Thickening Haze
From ACM News

Martian Dust Storm Grows Global; Curiosity Captures Photos of Thickening Haze

A storm of tiny dust particles has engulfed much of Mars over the last two weeks and prompted NASA's Opportunity rover to suspend science operations.

SDSC Comet and Machine Learning Simulates H2O With '­nprecedented Accuracy'
From ACM TechNews

SDSC Comet and Machine Learning Simulates H2O With '­nprecedented Accuracy'

Researchers used machine learning techniques and a supercomputer to develop the most accurate models to date for simulations of water.

Chip ­pgrade Helps Miniature Drones Navigate
From ACM TechNews

Chip ­pgrade Helps Miniature Drones Navigate

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers reduced the size and power consumption of a computer chip they designed in 2017 to help honeybee-sized drones...

New Human Gene Tally Reignites Debate
From ACM News

New Human Gene Tally Reignites Debate

One of the earliest attempts to estimate the number of genes in the human genome involved tipsy geneticists, a bar in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, and pure guesswork...

The Unexpected Fallout of Iran's Telegram Ban
From ACM News

The Unexpected Fallout of Iran's Telegram Ban

Seven weeks after Iran's conservative-led judiciary banned the secure communications app Telegram inside the country, Iranians are still reeling from the change...

Underwater Robot Finds Second World War Bomber Plane on Seabed
From ACM TechNews

Underwater Robot Finds Second World War Bomber Plane on Seabed

Harvey Mudd College researchers have developed a novel autonomous underwater vehicle that can explore the sea floor looking for signs of wrecked ships.

New AI System Can Imagine What It Hasn't Seen
From ACM News

New AI System Can Imagine What It Hasn't Seen

"Before we work on artificial intelligence, why don't we do something about natural stupidity?" computer scientist Steve Polyak once joked.

Astronomers See Distant Eruption as Black Hole Destroys Star
From ACM News

Astronomers See Distant Eruption as Black Hole Destroys Star

For the first time, astronomers have directly imaged the formation and expansion of a fast-moving jet of material ejected when the powerful gravity of a supermassive...

Forgotten Corner of Europe Brought Back to Life, Thanks to AI
From ACM TechNews

Forgotten Corner of Europe Brought Back to Life, Thanks to AI

Researchers used artificial intelligence methods to learn of previously unknown political and cultural events which took place in a forgotten corner of the Austrian...

Spotlight Falls on Russian Threat to ­ndersea Cables
From ACM News

Spotlight Falls on Russian Threat to ­ndersea Cables

The Trump administration's new sanctions on Russia are casting light on the threat posed to the undersea cables that carry the world's electronic communications...

If You're A Facebook ­ser, You're Also a Research Subject
From ACM News

If You're A Facebook ­ser, You're Also a Research Subject

The professor was incredulous.

Seafloor Fiber Optic Cables Can Work Like Seismometers
From ACM News

Seafloor Fiber Optic Cables Can Work Like Seismometers

There are enough seismometers around these days to detect and locate nearly all earthquakes on land, except the most minuscule ones.

Anti-Swearing AI Takes the Edge Off Abuse on Reddit and Twitter
From ACM TechNews

Anti-Swearing AI Takes the Edge Off Abuse on Reddit and Twitter

IBM researchers have developed a system that translates offensive comments on social media into more polite language, while keeping the content intact.

Computer Program Looks Five Minutes Into the Future
From ACM TechNews

Computer Program Looks Five Minutes Into the Future

Self-learning software can predict actions five minutes into the future by first learning typical sequences of events from video footage, and then predicting actions...

Drone Swarms Are the New Fireworks Lighting Up China's Skies
From ACM News

Drone Swarms Are the New Fireworks Lighting Up China's Skies

Since China banned fireworks across more than 400 cities to reduce pollution, a new entertainment has emerged to fill the skies: drone swarms.
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