acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Articles


bg-corner

China's Breathtaking Transformation Into a Scientific Superpower
From ACM Opinion

China's Breathtaking Transformation Into a Scientific Superpower

The National Science Foundation and the National Science Board have just released their biennial "Science & Engineering Indicators," a voluminous document describing...

I Am a Roboticist in a Cheese Factory
From ACM Opinion

I Am a Roboticist in a Cheese Factory

Most people think about robots as autonomous machines guided by artificial intelligence.

Forget the Robot Singularity Apocalypse. Let's Talk About the Multiplicity
From ACM Opinion

Forget the Robot Singularity Apocalypse. Let's Talk About the Multiplicity

For a species that's conquered Earth and traveled through space and invented the Slapchop, we humans sure are insecure when it comes to technology.

In 2018, Voice Assistants Will Make the Leap Out of Your Home
From ACM Opinion

In 2018, Voice Assistants Will Make the Leap Out of Your Home

At one section of Google's giant outdoor booth at CES was an impromptu, carney-style one-man show, with a guy wearing dark sunglasses and a white Google Assistant...

Nissan Wants to Make You a Better Driver By Reading Your Mind
From ACM Opinion

Nissan Wants to Make You a Better Driver By Reading Your Mind

Might the car of the future be able to read your mind?

There Is No Such Thing as 'the' Blockchain
From ACM Opinion

There Is No Such Thing as 'the' Blockchain

How do you quadruple your stock price without lifting a finger?

Exoplanet Science 2.0
From ACM Opinion

Exoplanet Science 2.0

It is more than two decades since we learnt that the Universe is awash with other worlds. Since 1992, more than 3,500 exoplanets have been discovered orbiting stars...

Even Realistic Videogames Like Call of Duty Won't Help ­S Win Wars
From ACM Opinion

Even Realistic Videogames Like Call of Duty Won't Help ­S Win Wars

Millennials can now storm the beaches of Normandy and fight Nazis with a new level of realism.

The Big Tech Trends to Follow at Ces 2018
From ACM Opinion

The Big Tech Trends to Follow at Ces 2018

Imagine this: When you leave the house, your air conditioner and lights turn off automatically. Then when a motion sensor detects a person in the house, like your...

8 Overly Confident, Mostly Pessimistic Predictions About Tech in 2018
From ACM Opinion

8 Overly Confident, Mostly Pessimistic Predictions About Tech in 2018

It was a very strange year for technology companies. They have become a "bipartisan whipping boy," a new sexist institution, responsible for the muddying of the...

10 Ways Tech Will Shape Your Life in 2018, For Better and Worse
From ACM Opinion

10 Ways Tech Will Shape Your Life in 2018, For Better and Worse

Is the outlook for technology in 2018 exciting—or slightly terrifying? Flip a coin. You'd be right either way.

3 Brain Technologies to Watch in 2018
From ACM Opinion

3 Brain Technologies to Watch in 2018

Technologies to detect brain activity—fine, we'll come right out and call it mind reading—as well as to change it are moving along so quickly that "a bit of a gold...

License Expired: The Ars Technica 2018 Deathwatch
From ACM Opinion

License Expired: The Ars Technica 2018 Deathwatch

Wow, that 2017, though. Quite a year. Let's grab a Juicero and take a moment to reflect on the utter dumpster fires that we've witnessed over the past 12 months...

Driverless Cars Could Make Transportation Free For Everyone, With a Catch
From ACM Opinion

Driverless Cars Could Make Transportation Free For Everyone, With a Catch

As self-driving cars inch closer to everyday reality, journalists, futurists, economists, and ethicists have weighed in with numerous predictions about autonomous...

Science Fiction When the Future Is Now
From ACM Opinion

Science Fiction When the Future Is Now

AlphaGo, fake news, cyberwar: 2017 has felt science-fictional in the here and now. Space settlement and sea-steading seem just around the bend; so, at times, do...

The Year the Home Button Died
From ACM Opinion

The Year the Home Button Died

The most convincing lie Steve Jobs ever told was "you already know how to use it."

Augmented Reality's Real Power Will Come From Substance, Not Flash
From ACM Opinion

Augmented Reality's Real Power Will Come From Substance, Not Flash

Last week the pilot light for my water heater went out. I tried to relight it by following the instructions pasted on the side of the heater, but they were as inscrutable...

The Bitcoin Boom: In Code We Trust
From ACM Opinion

The Bitcoin Boom: In Code We Trust

You don't need brilliant financial analysis skills to notice that Bitcoin is in a bubble.

Goodbye Internet: How Regional Divides ­pended the World Wide Web
From ACM Opinion

Goodbye Internet: How Regional Divides ­pended the World Wide Web

So, there you have it: 2017 was the year that finally broke the internet.

Five Priorities For Weather and Climate Research
From ACM Opinion

Five Priorities For Weather and Climate Research

Meteorology is entering a new era. Demand is growing worldwide for forecasts of storms, floods and droughts.
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account