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Despite Consumer Worries, the Future of Aviation Will Be More Automated
From ACM Opinion

Despite Consumer Worries, the Future of Aviation Will Be More Automated

In the wake of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes, people are thinking about how much of their air travel is handled by software...

China Is Catching ­p to the ­S on Artificial Intelligence Research
From ACM News

China Is Catching ­p to the ­S on Artificial Intelligence Research

Researchers, companies and countries around the world are racing to explore—and exploit—the possibilities of artificial intelligence technology.

Offices Are Too Hot or Too Cold; Is There a Better Way to Control Room Temperature?
From ACM Opinion

Offices Are Too Hot or Too Cold; Is There a Better Way to Control Room Temperature?

In any office, home or other shared space, there's almost always someone who's too cold, someone who's too hot—and someone who doesn't know what the fuss around...

The Quiet Threat Inside 'Internet of Things' Devices
From ACM Opinion

The Quiet Threat Inside 'Internet of Things' Devices

As Americans increasingly buy and install smart devices in their homes, all those cheap interconnected devices create new security problems for individuals and...

Is Quantum Computing a Cybersecurity Threat?
From ACM Opinion

Is Quantum Computing a Cybersecurity Threat?

Cybersecurity researchers and analysts are rightly worried that a new type of computer, based on quantum physics rather than more standard electronics, could ...

 Inspired by Sci-Fi, an Airplane with No Moving Parts and a Blue Ionic Glow
From ACM Opinion

Inspired by Sci-Fi, an Airplane with No Moving Parts and a Blue Ionic Glow

Since their invention more than 100 years ago, airplanes have been moved through the air by the spinning surfaces of propellers or turbines.

Sci-Fi Movies Are the Secret Weapon that Could Help Silicon Valley Grow Up
From ACM Opinion

Sci-Fi Movies Are the Secret Weapon that Could Help Silicon Valley Grow Up

If there's one line that stands the test of time in Steven Spielbergs 1993 classic "Jurassic Park," it's probably Jeff Goldblum's exclamation, "Your scientists...

Colonizing Mars Means Contaminating Mars, and Never Knowing for Sure If It Had Its Own Native Life
From ACM Opinion

Colonizing Mars Means Contaminating Mars, and Never Knowing for Sure If It Had Its Own Native Life

The closest place in the universe where extraterrestrial life might exist is Mars, and human beings are poised to attempt to colonize this planetary neighbor within...

Even a Few Bots Can Shift Public Opinion in Big Ways
From ACM Opinion

Even a Few Bots Can Shift Public Opinion in Big Ways

Nearly two-thirds of the social media bots with political activity on Twitter before the 2016 U.S. presidential election supported Donald Trump.

My Thoughts Are My Password, Because My Brain Reactions Are ­nique
From ACM Opinion

My Thoughts Are My Password, Because My Brain Reactions Are ­nique

Your brain is an inexhaustible source of secure passwords—but you might not have to remember anything. Passwords and PINs with letters and numbers are relatively...

Blockchains Won't Fix Internet Voting Security, and Could Make It Worse
From ACM Opinion

Blockchains Won't Fix Internet Voting Security, and Could Make It Worse

Looking to modernize voting practices, speed waiting times at the polls, increase voter turnout and generally make voting more convenient, many government officials—and...

Evolution Is at Work in Computers as well as Life Sciences
From ACM Opinion

Evolution Is at Work in Computers as well as Life Sciences

Artificial intelligence research has a lot to learn from nature.

Paper-Based Electronics Could Fold, Biodegrade and Be the Basis for the Next Generation of Devices
From ACM Opinion

Paper-Based Electronics Could Fold, Biodegrade and Be the Basis for the Next Generation of Devices

It seems like every few months there's a new cellphone, laptop or tablet that is so exciting people line up around the block to get their hands on it.

In 1968, Computers Got Personal: How the 'Mother of All Demos' Changed the World
From ACM Opinion

In 1968, Computers Got Personal: How the 'Mother of All Demos' Changed the World

On a crisp California afternoon in early December 1968, a square-jawed, mild-mannered Stanford researcher named Douglas Engelbart took the stage at San Francisco's...

Ten Years of Large Hadron Collider Discoveries Are Just the Start of Decoding the ­niverse
From ACM Opinion

Ten Years of Large Hadron Collider Discoveries Are Just the Start of Decoding the ­niverse

Ten years! Ten years since the start of operations for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), one of the most complex machines ever created.

Math Shows How DNA Twists, Turns and ­nzips
From ACM Opinion

Math Shows How DNA Twists, Turns and ­nzips

If you've ever seen a picture of a DNA molecule, you probably saw it in its famous B-form: two strands coiling around each other in a right-handed fashion to form...

Weaponized Information Seeks a New Target in Cyberspace: Users' Minds
From ACM Opinion

Weaponized Information Seeks a New Target in Cyberspace: Users' Minds

The Russian attacks on the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the country's continuing election-related hacking have happened across all three dimensions of cyberspace—physical...

Supreme Court Struggles to Define 'Searches' as Technology Changes
From ACM Opinion

Supreme Court Struggles to Define 'Searches' as Technology Changes

What the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution means when it protects citizens against an unreasonable search by government agents isn't entirely clear.

Microprocessor Designers Realize Security Must Be a Primary Concern
From ACM Opinion

Microprocessor Designers Realize Security Must Be a Primary Concern

Computers' amazing abilities to entertain people, help them work, and even respond to voice commands are, at their heart, the results of decades of technological...

How We Proved Einstein Right on a Galactic Scale, and What It Means for Dark Energy and Dark Matter
From ACM Opinion

How We Proved Einstein Right on a Galactic Scale, and What It Means for Dark Energy and Dark Matter

Gravity may be the weakest of the fundamental forces in nature, but it is ultimately what enabled life on Earth to evolve.
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