Communications of the ACM
An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM TechNews
What Cmu's Snake Robot Team Learned While Searching For Mexican Earthquake Survivors
Researchers used their snake robots in search-and-rescue missions in Mexico City shortly after a major earthquake struck the region in September.
From ACM News
China Demonstrates Quantum Encryption By Hosting a Video Call
Chinese researchers have completed a practical demonstration of quantum key distribution, showing that it's possible to encrypt and send data between two locations...
From ACM Opinion
How We Won Gold in the Cyborg Olympics' Brain Race
In October 2016, inside a sold-out arena in Zurich, a man named Numa Poujouly steered his wheelchair up to the central podium.
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Computing Depends on Making It Reversible
For more than 50 years, computers have made steady and dramatic improvements, all thanks to Moore's Law—the exponential increase over time in the number of transistors...
From ACM News
Magnetothermal Genetics: A Fourth Tool in the Brain-Hacking Toolbox
A scientist wanting to hack into an animal's brain used to have three different tools to choose from: electric current, drugs, and light. Now there's a fourth:...
From ACM Opinion
Blossom: A Handmade Approach to Social Robotics from Cornell and Google
As excited as we are about the forthcoming generation of social home robots (including Jibo, Kuri, and many others), it's hard to ignore the fact that most of them...
From ACM News
E-Zpass Could Kickstart Smart Cities
Everyone likes the idea of a smart city. Traffic lights would automatically adjust to optimize traffic flow, you could find parking spaces without circling for...
From ACM Opinion
Jpl's Design For a Clockwork Rover to Explore Venus
The longest amount of time that a spacecraft has survived on the surface of Venus is 127 minutes.
From ACM News
Nanoneurons Enable Neuromorphic Chips For Voice Recognition
Last month, IEEE Spectrum ran a special report focusing on the question "Can We Copy the Brain?" The report offered a thorough examination of all the ongoing efforts...
From ACM News
Complex Biological Computer Commands Living Cells
Researchers have developed a biological computer that functions inside living bacterial cells and tells them what to do, according to a report published yesterday...
From ACM News
Smart Contact Lenses and Eye Implants Will Give Doctors Medical Insights
Poets say the eyes are a window to the soul. But biomedical engineers are using the eyes to gain insight into the body.
From ACM TechNews
c Berkeley Releases Massive Dex-Net 2.0 Dataset
A University of California, Berkeley professor has announced the release of a massive dataset for Dex-Net 2.0.
From ACM TechNews
A Hybrid of Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Is Spawning New Ventures
Researchers think the field of merging quantum computing with machine learning may soon be ripe for commercialization.
From ACM TechNews
Taxonomy Goes Digital: Getting a Handle on Social Bots
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding research on social networks.
From ACM TechNews
Deepmind Shows AI Has Trouble Seeing Homer Simpson's Actions
DeepMind has created a YouTube dataset of 300,000 video clips and 400 human action classes to train its deep-learning algorithms to better identify human activities...
From ACM News
The Benefits of Old Age (for Transistors)
In case you didn't know, the transistors in your computer's processor, your smartphone's memory, and your car's autobrake system get old.
From ACM News
We Know What You're Watching (even If It's Encrypted)
I stand firm in the opinion that it's my basic, human right to binge-watch six hours of trashy detective shows on a Friday night with a silent phone in my lap and...
From ACM TechNews
Point-and-Click Method Makes Robot Grasping Control Less Tedious
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are working to make the process of a robot autonomously grasping an object easier.
From ACM TechNews