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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


Robots Rise to Meet the Challenge of Caring for Older Adults
From ACM TechNews

Robots Rise to Meet the Challenge of Caring for Older Adults

Robotic assistants could be used in nursing and retirement homes to help seniors care for themselves and assist with chores.

Algorithms Spot Millions of California's Tiniest Quakes in Historical Data
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.

Mars Methane Hunt Comes ­p Empty, Flummoxing Scientists
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.

Black Hole Pictured for First Time, in Spectacular Detail
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...

GPS Glitch Threatens Thousands of Scientific Instruments
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...

Beware of Plausible Predictions of Fantasy Materials
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...

Siberia's Ancient Ghost Clan Starts to Surrender Its Secrets
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...

Japan's Hayabusa2 Craft Touches Down on Asteroid Ryugu
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...

Gravitational-Wave Observatory LIGO Set to Double Its Detecting Power
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...

Extreme Chemistry: Experiments at the Edge of the Periodic Table
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.

How Machine Learning Could Keep Dangerous DNA Out of Terrorists' Hands
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.

Hidden History of the Milky Way Revealed by Extensive Star Maps
From ACM News

Hidden History of the Milky Way Revealed by Extensive Star Maps

Last April, Amina Helmi felt goose bumps while driving to work in the northern Netherlands. It had nothing to do with the weather—it was pure anticipation. Just...

Earth's Magnetic Field Is Acting ­p and Geologists Don't Know Why
From ACM News

Earth's Magnetic Field Is Acting ­p and Geologists Don't Know Why

Something strange is going on at the top of the world. Earth's north magnetic pole has been skittering away from Canada and towards Siberia, driven by liquid iron...

China Becomes First Nation to Land on the Moon's Far Side
From ACM News

China Becomes First Nation to Land on the Moon's Far Side

A Chinese probe has made a historic touch-down on the far side of the Moon, according to the country's state-run media. It is the first time a probe has visited...

These Dusty Young Stars Are Changing the Rules of Planet-Building
From ACM News

These Dusty Young Stars Are Changing the Rules of Planet-Building

Some 100,000 years ago, when Neanderthals still occupied the caves of southern Europe, a star was born.

Asteroid-Sampling Mission Zeroes In on Tiny Space Rock
From ACM News

Asteroid-Sampling Mission Zeroes In on Tiny Space Rock

For the second time this year, a spacecraft is about to partner with an asteroid in an intimate dance.

The Microscope Revolution that's Sweeping Through Materials Science
From ACM News

The Microscope Revolution that's Sweeping Through Materials Science

Scientists can't study what they can't measure, as David Muller knows only too well.

Largest Overhaul of Scientific ­nits Since the French Revolution Wins Approval
From ACM News

Largest Overhaul of Scientific ­nits Since the French Revolution Wins Approval

In the biggest overhaul of the international system of units since 1875, countries have voted to redefine four basic units of measurement—the ampere, the kilogram...

World’s First Automated Volcano Forecast Predicts Mount Etna's Eruptions
From ACM News

World’s First Automated Volcano Forecast Predicts Mount Etna's Eruptions

Smoke filled the cabin as the Boeing 747 plunged towards snow-covered mountains in southern Alaska. All four engines had shut down, and it took the pilots eight...

'Reprogrammed' Stem Cells Implanted Into Patient with Parkinson's Disease
From ACM News

'Reprogrammed' Stem Cells Implanted Into Patient with Parkinson's Disease

Japanese neurosurgeons have implanted 'reprogrammed' stem cells into the brain of a patient with Parkinson's disease for the first time.
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