Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
Why a Cyberwar Won't Happen
Exactly two decades ago, the RAND Corporation, an influential think tank, proclaimed that "cyberwar is coming!"
From ACM Opinion
Nasa Is Turning Science Fiction Into Fact
As a new moon orbiter gets set to launch, Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames, says forget the 20th—this is the real space century.
From ACM Opinion
State of Innovation: Busting the Private-Sector Myth
Images of tech entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are continually thrown at us by politicians, economists and the media.
From ACM Opinion
Meet the Nasa Scientist Devising a Starship Warp Drive
The idea that nothing can exceed the speed of light limits our interstellar ambitions. How do we get round this?
From ACM Opinion
Hands On the Wheel, Mind On the Road–not Cyberspace
Makers of cars and mobile electronics are pushing a tempting vision of the future. It is one in which you can stay fully connected while driving.
From ACM Opinion
'we Will Be Amazed By the Diversity of Exoplanets'
The Kepler space telescope's search may be at an end, but Didier Queloz, who found the first world around a sunlike star, says more planet hunts are afoot.
From ACM Opinion
The Promise and Perils of a Datafied World
In a former life I was a research assistant. After painstaking weeks spent gathering data, I was tasked with putting the numbers into a statistics application that...
From ACM Opinion
Tony Fadell: From Iphones to Sexing p Thermostats
After you left Apple, you developed a "smart" thermostat. Was that always your plan?
From ACM Opinion
'the Idea We Live in a Simulation Isn't Science Fiction'
If the universe is just a Matrix-like simulation, how could we ever know? Physicist Silas Beane thinks he has the answer.
From ACM Opinion
'biology Is a Manufacturing Capability'
Soon we'll be able to engineer living things with mechanical precision, says Tom Knight, father of synthetic biology.
From ACM News
Will We Ever nderstand How Our Brains Work?
When it comes to the human brain, many scientists believe that we are incapable of understanding how it works because we lack the tools and intelligence to measure...
From ACM Opinion
Patent Could Shackle 3D Printers with Drm
One of the greatest benefits of 3D printing technology—the ability to make replacements or parts for household objects like toys, utensils and gadgets—may be denied...
From ACM Opinion
Meet the Man Who Gave the Mars Rover Its Eyes
Iconic pictures from the latest mission to the Red Planet are coming courtesy of space-imaging expert Michael Malin.
From ACM Opinion
Augmented Reality Offers a New Layer of Intrigue
If you ever come across a photograph of communist-era East Berlin, or modern Pyongyang in North Korea, the cityscapes look drab and featureless. Billboards, advertising...
From ACM Opinion
Kinect Lab Boss on the Future of Computer Interfaces
Andrew Blake is managing director of Microsoft Research Cambridge, the U.K. lab responsible for the machine learning software behind Kinect.
From ACM Opinion
Was Our Interview with Lulzsec Hacker an Fbi Set-p?
In the early hours of 30 June last year, my time spent monitoring the Anonymous chat room finally paid off: "Sabu" would grant me an interview.
From ACM Opinion
Time For Robots to Get Real
From robotic slug-killers to dancing humanoids, there's a lot of media buzz around robots.
From ACM Opinion