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
Trump Picks Computer Scientist to Lead NSF
U.S. President Donald Trump nominated computer scientist and Arizona State University vice president Sethuraman Panchanathan to be director of the U.S. National...
From ACM News
Why Deep Learning AIs Are So Easy to Fool
Artificial intelligence researchers are trying to fix the flaws of neural networks.
From ACM TechNews
Julia: Come for the Syntax, Stay for the Speed
The open-source Julia language combines the speed of "compiled" languages such as Fortran and C with the interactivity and syntax of "scripting" languages such...
From ACM News
A More Human Approach to Artificial Intelligence
Philosopher Andy Clark reflects on what it will take for artificially intelligent agents to become more capable.
From ACM TechNews
AI Poker Bot Is First to Beat Professionals at Multiplayer Game
A new artificial intelligence program beat elite professional poker players at six-player no-limit Texas hold'em poker.
From ACM TechNews
From Brueghel to Warhol: AI Enters the Attribution Fray
Art historians are starting to utilize machine learning to provide empirical support for theories previously limited to the subjective eye of the beholders.
From ACM News
Algorithms Spot Millions of California's Tiniest Quakes in Historical Data
When it comes to earthquakes, large, destructive ones dominate the headlines.
From ACM News
Mars Methane Hunt Comes p Empty, Flummoxing Scientists
A spacecraft that was supposed to solve the mystery of methane on Mars has instead compounded scientists' confusion.
From ACM News
Black Hole Pictured for First Time, in Spectacular Detail
Astronomers have finally glimpsed the blackness of a black hole. By stringing together a global network of radio telescopes, they have for the first time produced...
From ACM News
Japanese Space Probe Drops Explosive on Asteroid Ryugu
For the past year, space probe Hayabusa2 has pelted asteroid Ryugu with bouncing probes, shot a bullet at it, and taken a bite of it—all for science.
From ACM Opinion
AI Pioneer: 'The Dangers of Abuse Are Very Real'
Yoshua Bengio is one of three computer scientists who last week shared the US$1-million A. M. Turing award—one of the field's top prizes.
From ACM News
GPS Glitch Threatens Thousands of Scientific Instruments
Researchers worldwide are racing to get ahead of a bug in the US Global Positioning System (GPS) that could cause data loggers, including thousands of scientific...
From ACM Opinion
Beware of Plausible Predictions of Fantasy Materials
The hunt is on for materials that have exotic properties, to enhance quantum computers, touch screens and electronic displays, and to double the efficiency of solar...
From ACM News
Siberia's Ancient Ghost Clan Starts to Surrender Its Secrets
Samantha Brown didn't have high hopes when she opened the ziplock bag containing some 700 shards of bone. It would be a lot of work to analyse them and none was...
From ACM News
Four New DNA Letters Double Life's Alphabet
The DNA of life on Earth naturally stores its information in just four key chemicals—guanine, cytosine, adenine and thymine, commonly referred to as G, C, A and...
From ACM News
Japan's Hayabusa2 Craft Touches Down on Asteroid Ryugu
It was a brief but historic tap on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu, at 7:29 am Japan time on 22 February. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft touched down at its target...
From ACM News
Gravitational-Wave Observatory LIGO Set to Double Its Detecting Power
Spotting gravitational waves is due to become an almost hourly event in the next decade. Starting around 2023, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory...
From ACM News
Extreme Chemistry: Experiments at the Edge of the Periodic Table
If you wanted to create the world's next undiscovered element, number 119 in the periodic table, here's a possible recipe.
From ACM News
How Machine Learning Could Keep Dangerous DNA Out of Terrorists' Hands
Biologists the world over routinely pay companies to synthesize snippets of DNA for use in the laboratory or clinic.
From ACM News