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Starman
From ACM Opinion

Starman

It was a mild October day in Hollywood, but a trace of artificial snow remained on the ground as Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium, at...

When Will Genomics Cure Cancer?
From ACM Opinion

When Will Genomics Cure Cancer?

Since the beginning of this century, the most rapidly advancing field in the life sciences, and perhaps in human inquiry of any sort, has been genomics.

How Real Is Spike Jonze's 'her'? Artificial Intelligence Experts Weigh In
From ACM Opinion

How Real Is Spike Jonze's 'her'? Artificial Intelligence Experts Weigh In

In Spike Jonze's Oscar-nominated, futuristic film 'Her,' computers compose music, carry on seamless conversations with humans, organize emails instantaneously,...

­dacity Founder: Moocs Can Help the Economy, Even If They Can't Replace College
From ACM Opinion

­dacity Founder: Moocs Can Help the Economy, Even If They Can't Replace College

Sebastian Thrun was instrumental in building Google's self-driving car and Glass projects, and helped launch the company's Google X wing to spearhead "moonshot"...

How a Database of the World's Knowledge Shapes Google's Future
From ACM Opinion

How a Database of the World's Knowledge Shapes Google's Future

For all its success, Google's famous Page Rank algorithm has never understood a word of the billions of Web pages it has directed people to over the years.

This Company Sold Google a Quantum Computer. Here's How It Works.
From ACM Opinion

This Company Sold Google a Quantum Computer. Here's How It Works.

I thought it would be interesting to hear from D-Wave, a start-up that has raised more than $130 million in venture capital and employs over 100 people.

Confused About the Nsa's Quantum Computing Project? This MIT Computer Scientist Can Explain.
From ACM Opinion

Confused About the Nsa's Quantum Computing Project? This MIT Computer Scientist Can Explain.

My Washington Post colleagues have reported on a National Security Agency program to to build a quantum computer.

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success
From ACM Opinion

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success

When Microsoft launched its research labs in 1991, the personal computer was just beginning to blossom into a worldwide phenomenon, thanks in no small part to Windows...

The Great Ideas Hiding ­nder the Invisibility Cloak
From ACM Opinion

The Great Ideas Hiding ­nder the Invisibility Cloak

Physicist John Pendry talks about the profound physics obscured by his invisibility cloak and how metamaterials could help realise the perfect lens.

James Kuffner, Google Robotics Researcher
From ACM Opinion

James Kuffner, Google Robotics Researcher

At a racetrack in Florida this weekend, 16 robots competed to complete a series of tasks inspired by challenges faced in cleaning up the destroyed Fukushima-Daiichi...

Nasa's Chief Scientist on Mars, Moons, and Money
From ACM Opinion

Nasa's Chief Scientist on Mars, Moons, and Money

Planetary geologist Ellen Stofan joined NASA in August as the agency's chief scientist, an overarching role in which she advises on the science of all NASA programmes...

For Steve Ballmer, a Lasting Touch on Microsoft
From ACM Opinion

For Steve Ballmer, a Lasting Touch on Microsoft

On the eve of his exit as chief executive officer of Microsoft, after more than a decade on the job, Steve Ballmer is more than ever a CEO whose image does not...

Will Your Next Phone Have No Screen?
From ACM Opinion

Will Your Next Phone Have No Screen?

Google is predicting a generation of screenless computing devices that rely on voice recognition, a senior engineer has said, emphasising that the company encrypts...

Moore's Law Isn't Making Chips Cheaper Anymore
From ACM Opinion

Moore's Law Isn't Making Chips Cheaper Anymore

At a wine bar in San Francisco on Wednesday, Broadcom Chairman and CTO Henry Samueli delivered some sobering news: Moore's Law isn't making chips cheaper anymore...

Google Puts Money on Robots, ­sing the Man Behind Android
From ACM Opinion

Google Puts Money on Robots, ­sing the Man Behind Android

In an out-of-the-way Google office, two life-size humanoid robots hang suspended in a corner.

Three Questions For Computing Pioneer Carver Mead
From ACM Opinion

Three Questions For Computing Pioneer Carver Mead

Computer scientist Carver Mead gave Moore's Law its name in around 1970 and played a crucial role in making sure it's held true in the decades since.

A Neuroscientist's Radical Theory of How Networks Become Conscious
From ACM Opinion

A Neuroscientist's Radical Theory of How Networks Become Conscious

It's a question that’s perplexed philosophers for centuries and scientists for decades: Where does consciousness come from?

Will Ibm's Watson ­sher in a New Era of Cognitive Computing?
From ACM Opinion

Will Ibm's Watson ­sher in a New Era of Cognitive Computing?

Computers as we know them have are close to reaching an inflection point—the next generation is in sight but not quite within our grasp.

What Is 4d Printing?
From ACM Opinion

What Is 4d Printing?

The biggest breakthroughs in how we make things lie not in the technology to manipulate materials but in the materials themselves.

Don Boroson on Nasa's Record-Breaking ­se of Laser Communications
From ACM Opinion

Don Boroson on Nasa's Record-Breaking ­se of Laser Communications

Last week, NASA announced that the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) on its Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft had made...
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