acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

News


bg-corner

An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


Microsoft's Kinect: A Robot's Low-Cost, Secret Weapon
From ACM News

Microsoft's Kinect: A Robot's Low-Cost, Secret Weapon

As robots seek to mimic humans' ability to see and hear, they have a secret weapon in Microsoft's Kinect game motion-sensing controller.

Squishy, Soft Robots Crawl Their Way to the Cutting Edge
From ACM News

Squishy, Soft Robots Crawl Their Way to the Cutting Edge

A new breed of robots based on spineless creatures such as starfish and caterpillars could change the way humans interact with machines.

Software That Listens For Lies
From ACM News

Software That Listens For Lies

She looks as innocuous as Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.

Scientists Striving to Put a Human Face on the Robot Generation
From ACM TechNews

Scientists Striving to Put a Human Face on the Robot Generation

Plymouth University researchers are studying the social interaction between humans and LightFace, a robot that is capable of producing a range of naturalistic expressions...

Citizen Scientists
From ACM News

Citizen Scientists

Ordinary people are taking control of their health data, making their DNA public and running their own experiments. Their big question: Why should science be...

From ACM News

Enhance Your Senses: High-Tech Ways to Play

Sometimes the best inventions are just for fun. At the 2011 Siggraph Asia event, a leading conference on computer graphics and techniques, researchers will be...

Facebook Auditions Kid Hackers with All-Night Codefest
From ACM Careers

Facebook Auditions Kid Hackers with All-Night Codefest

"Yes! We have elegance!" says a student from the University of Waterloo. Then he pauses, and his shoulders slump.

Everything You Need to Know About Carrieriq
From ACM News

Everything You Need to Know About Carrieriq

"Carrier IQ" is a company that sells software to wireless companies that reports how well networks are performing in real-time, by sending performance data from...

Will Microsoft's 'minority Report' ­i Leap-Frog Apple?
From ACM TechNews

Will Microsoft's 'minority Report' ­i Leap-Frog Apple?

Although Apple has pioneered the mainstream multitouch user interface (UI), Microsoft could provide the next major UI breakthrough by combining voice, touch, and...

From ACM News

Did Conficker Help Sabotage Iran Nuke Program?

A cyber warfare expert claims he has linked the Stuxnet computer virus that attacked Iran's nuclear program in 2010 to Conficker, a mysterious "worm" that surfaced...

Gchq Aims to Recruit Computer Hackers with Code-Cracking Web Site
From ACM Careers

Gchq Aims to Recruit Computer Hackers with Code-Cracking Web Site

Government intelligence service targets "self-taught" hackers with cryptic Web site that features no obvious branding.

From ACM News

Human Brain Is Limiting Global Data Growth, Say Computer Scientists

Evidence has emerged that the brain's capacity to absorb information is limiting the amount of data humanity can produce.

The Search For Analysts to Make Sense of 'big Data'
From ACM News

The Search For Analysts to Make Sense of 'big Data'

Businesses keep vast troves of data about things like online shopping behavior, or millions of changes in weather patterns, or trillions of financial transactions—information...

Comedy of Errors Led to False 'water-Pump Hack' Report
From ACM News

Comedy of Errors Led to False 'water-Pump Hack' Report

It was the broken water pump heard 'round the world. Cyberwar watchers took notice this month when a leaked intelligence memo claimed Russian hackers had remotely...

Photoshopped or Not? A Tool to Tell
From ACM News

Photoshopped or Not? A Tool to Tell

The photographs of celebrities and models in fashion advertisements and magazines are routinely buffed with a helping of digital polish.

From ACM News

Soft Robots Inspired By Nature Could Become Our Flexible Friends

Robbie the Robot in the 1950s movie Forbidden Planet may have been endearing in a clunky, metallic way, but negotiating tricky terrain was never his strong point...

Drone Pilots: The Future of Aerial Warfare
From ACM News

Drone Pilots: The Future of Aerial Warfare

To understand how important remotely piloted aircraft are to the U.S. military, consider this: The U.S. Air Force says this year it will train more drone pilots...

Robots in Reality
From ACM News

Robots in Reality

Consider the following scenario: A scout surveys a high-rise building that's been crippled by an earthquake, trapping workers inside. After looking for a point...

From ACM News

It's a Drone's World. We Just Live in It

Drones have had a profound effect on the way America fights its wars, allowing it to fight in new theaters while minimizing the risk to troops.

From ACM News

Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It's Not Clear Why

Millions of Americans who got on a plane over the Thanksgiving holiday heard the admonition: "Please power down your electronic devices for takeoff."
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account