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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.


Baer's Odyssey: Meet the Serial Inventor Who Built the World's First Game Console
From ACM Opinion

Baer's Odyssey: Meet the Serial Inventor Who Built the World's First Game Console

Even if you're a devoted fan of video games, there's a decent chance you're not familiar with the name Ralph H. Baer.

Dawn Snaps Its Best-Yet Image of Dwarf Planet Ceres
From ACM News

Dawn Snaps Its Best-Yet Image of Dwarf Planet Ceres

The Dawn spacecraft has delivered a glimpse of Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, in a new image taken 740,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from...

Trends to Watch in 2015: From Algorithmic Accountability to the ­ber of X
From ACM News

Trends to Watch in 2015: From Algorithmic Accountability to the ­ber of X

Year-end technology prediction lists can be dull fodder devoted to pie-in-the-sky concepts, outlandish marketing claims or rehashes of familiar trends.

Google's Intelligence Designer
From ACM Careers

Google's Intelligence Designer

Demis Hassabis started playing chess at age four and soon blossomed into a child prodigy.

Haptic Holograms Let You Touch the Void in Vr
From ACM News

Haptic Holograms Let You Touch the Void in Vr

Feeling is believing. A system that uses sound waves to project "haptic holograms" into mid-air—letting you touch 3D virtual objects with your bare hands—is poised...

The Last Astronauts to Fly to Hubble Talk About Their Wild Mission
From ACM Opinion

The Last Astronauts to Fly to Hubble Talk About Their Wild Mission

On a sunny afternoon in May, 2009, seven astronauts strapped themselves into the space shuttle Atlantis and rocketed toward the heavens.

Stanford Engineers Take Big Step Toward ­sing Light Instead of Wires Inside Computers
From ACM TechNews

Stanford Engineers Take Big Step Toward ­sing Light Instead of Wires Inside Computers

Stanford University researchers have developed a device that can split and bend a beam of light, which they say could lead to computers that use optics to carry...

Hacked vs. Hackers: Game On
From ACM News

Hacked vs. Hackers: Game On

Paul Kocher, one of the country's leading cryptographers, says he thinks the explanation for the world's dismal state of digital security may lie in two charts.

The Fastest Camera Ever Created Will Be Used to Study Invisibility Cloaks
From ACM News

The Fastest Camera Ever Created Will Be Used to Study Invisibility Cloaks

If you're wondering what scientists can do with a camera that captures 100 billion frames per second, you're not alone.

Ground Team Ready to Rouse Pluto Probe For Historic Flyby
From ACM News

Ground Team Ready to Rouse Pluto Probe For Historic Flyby

On the final stretch of a speedy nine-year trek through the solar system, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will be awakened from hibernation Dec. 6 for an encounter...

A Googler's Quest to Teach Machines How to ­nderstand Emotions
From ACM Careers

A Googler's Quest to Teach Machines How to ­nderstand Emotions

Quoc Le sees the world as a series of numbers.

Finding an Image with an Image and Other Feats of Computer Vision
From ACM Opinion

Finding an Image with an Image and Other Feats of Computer Vision

"We found that people were searching for squirrels just to favorite them, just to click 'like.' And the same with buses."

Google and Nasa Ride D-Wave to a Quantum Future
From ACM News

Google and Nasa Ride D-Wave to a Quantum Future

They could be the most powerful computers in the world—so perhaps it's no surprise that the biggest internet company on the planet is testing one out.

Physics: Quantum Computer Quest
From ACM News

Physics: Quantum Computer Quest

When asked what he likes best about working for Google, physicist John Martinis does not mention the famous massage chairs in the hallways, or the free snacks available...

Google Can Now Tell You're Not a Robot With Just One Click
From ACM News

Google Can Now Tell You're Not a Robot With Just One Click

When Alan Turing first conceived of the Turing Test in 1947, he suggested that a computer program’s resemblance to a human mind could be gauged by making it answer...

What's Next For the Rosetta Mission and Comet Exploration
From ACM News

What's Next For the Rosetta Mission and Comet Exploration

Somewhere dark and icy on a comet 320 million miles away, the history-making, comet-bouncing Philae spacecraft is sleeping.

MIT Engineers Have High Hopes For Cheetah Robot
From ACM TechNews

MIT Engineers Have High Hopes For Cheetah Robot

A new cheetah-inspired robot can run on batteries at speeds of more than 10 miles per hour, jump about 16 inches high, land safely, and continue running for 15...

Firmer Footing For Robots With Smart Walking Sticks
From ACM TechNews

Firmer Footing For Robots With Smart Walking Sticks

The SupraPed robotic platform uses "smart staffs" inspired by walking sticks to better balance and move over uneven terrain. 

Can Internet Companies Monitor Terrorists?
From ACM News

Can Internet Companies Monitor Terrorists?

Facebook is saying little apart from the fact that "we do not allow terrorist content on the site and take steps to prevent people from using our service for these...

3-D-Printing Bio-Electronic Parts
From ACM News

3-D-Printing Bio-Electronic Parts

A 3-D printer can already make a prototype or spare part out of metal or polymer.
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