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
The Moral Hazards and Legal Conundrums of Our Robot-Filled Future
The robots are coming, and they're getting smarter.
From ACM Opinion
Take a Virtual Voyage Into Darwin's Library
In his celebrated journey around the world on the HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836, Charles Darwin collected a plethora of information on the geology, animals, plants...
From ACM Opinion
Defending the Grand Vision of the Human Brain Project
"A grass roots effort is under way to stop the project... 'Mediocre science, terrible science policy,' begins the spirited letter…"
From ACM Opinion
How to Terraform the Moon
Space fans were startled—and perhaps a little skeptical—in May when the Russians announced that they intend to build a manned moon base.
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Implementing Fix to Prevent Snowden-Like Security Breach
A year after Edward Snowden's digital heist, the NSA's chief technology officer says steps have been taken to stop future incidents. But he says there's no way...
From ACM Opinion
Harnessing the Speed of Light
The fields of data communication, fabrication, and ultrasound imaging share a common challenge when it comes to improving speed and efficiency: light's diffraction...
From ACM Opinion
The Trouble With Brain Science
Are we ever going to figure out how the brain works?
From ACM Opinion
How Not to Build a Brain
Building a brain sounds like a worthy goal, one that makes it seem as though the future is within reach.
From ACM Opinion
Early-niverse Explorer Looks For Answers
On March 17, a panel of four astrophysicists held a press conference at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., to announce that they...
From ACM Opinion
The Oculus Rift Game That's So Real It Nearly Destroyed Me
I can hear the alien breathing.
From ACM Opinion
Forget Turing, the Lovelace Test Has a Better Shot at Spotting AI
When a chatbot called Eugene Goostman passed Alan Turing's famous measure of machine intelligence in June by posing as a Ukrainian teenager with questionable language...
From ACM Opinion
The Most Annoying Problem in Computing Is Still Unsolved
When I travel these days, I tend to look like a walking Radio Shack—cords bursting out of my pockets, bag overflowing with chargers and accessories.
From ACM Opinion
The Hazards of Probing the Internet's Dark Side
Late last year, hackers breached Target's data security and stole information from millions of credit cards.
From ACM Opinion
Stop Complaining About the Facebook Study. It's a Golden Age For Research
Several years ago, my student and I studied anonymous email server data from 40,000 students, faculty and staff at a large university.
From ACM Opinion
Billy Beane on the Future of Sports: A Tech-Driven Revolution
Baseball—my passion and profession for three decades—has been at the forefront of the analytics revolution sweeping through sports.
From ACM Opinion
Arm Tries to Spread Its Chips to Forests, Felds, and Factories
Forest fire on the way? Building stress getting too high? Farmland too moist?
From ACM Careers
Keeping Time By Rubidium at the Naval Observatory
You know when you dial a number, and a man reads you the exact time at the tone? That precise timekeeping starts at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.
From ACM Opinion