Communications of the ACM
U.S.-Built Databases Potential Tool of Taliban Repression
Experts fear the Taliban could exploit expansive databases built by the U.S. and its allies during the Afghanistan occupation… From ACM TechNewsAn edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
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Public Webcams Are Telling Us Whether People Are Social Distancing
Since April, computer scientists at Purdue University have been using an online database of public cameras to track compliance with social-distancing guidelines...
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AI Removes Unwanted Objects From Photos
A new algorithm uses artificial intelligence to digitally remove unwanted objects in photos.
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Army of a Million Microscopic Robots Created to Explore on Tiny Scale
University of Pennsylvania researchers have developed microscopic robots that move by themselves, using an actuator fashioned from a thin layer of platinum.
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Quantum Version of the Ancient Game of Go Could Be Ultimate AI Test
Researchers have created a more complex version of the ancient Chinese board game Go using quantum entanglement.
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Australia Will Use Robot Boats to Find Asylum Seekers at Sea
Australia is deploying unmanned robot boats to patrol its waters and monitor weather and wildlife, as well as identifying boats potentially transporting asylum...
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U.S. Voting Data from Millions of People is Being Traded on the Dark Web
Researchers have found that data on millions of U.S. voters is being illegally traded on parts of the Internet not searchable using normal means.
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Fake News Gets Shared More When It is Angry, Anxiety-Inducing
Researchers in China have found that fake news may go viral more quickly when it uses words associated with anger.
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Human-like Cyborg Eye Could Power Itself Using Sunlight
A new spherical visual sensor mimics the structure of the human eye.
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Pocket-Sized Device Tests Blood Samples for Genetic Conditions
A new smartphone-powered DNA detector can identify DNA in blood, urine, and other samples, on the spot.
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AI Can Distinguish Between Bots, Humans Based on Twitter Activity
Researchers trained an artificial intelligence system to detect Twitter bots based on differences in the patterns of Tweeting activity of real and fake accounts...
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DeepMind AI Can Understand the Unusual Atomic Structure of Glass
DeepMind researchers used machine learning to simulate how atomic particles in a piece of glass respond to different temperatures and pressures.
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Small Robots Could Help Look After Salmon Without Stressing Them Out
Salmon seem to prefer small robots to larger ones, a discovery that could help guide how fish farms are automated.
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U.S. Military Facial Recognition System Could Work From 1 Kilometer Away
The U.S. Special Operations Command is developing a portable facial recognition system that can identify individuals from 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) off.
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Deepfake Software Translates Videos from One Language to Another
New software automatically translates a video of a person speaking in one language into another language, while matching their lip movements to the new words.
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SIM Swapping, Poor Web Security Put Millions at Risk
Researchers at Princeton University have found that two-factor authentication is easily hackable and could put millions of people at risk.
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A Robot Equipped with Real Feathers Flies Like a Bird
Stanford University researchers affixed actual pigeon feathers to a robot to allow it to fly like a bird.
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Turn Any Object Into a Robot Using This Program and a 3D Printer
Researchers created a program to render household items into hand-activated robots using a three-dimensional (3D) printer.
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This Piece of Music Could Stop Your Amazon Alexa
Carnegie Mellon University researchers developed a technique to inhibit the Amazon Alexa voice assistant's ability to respond to commands by playing an audio clip...
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Robot Arm Lets You Remotely Lend Friends Helping Hand with Repairs
Researchers at the University of Bristol in the U.K. have developed a handheld robot for remote assistance with repairs.
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