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 News
Malware Lets a Drone Steal Data By Watching a Computer's Blinking Led
A few hours after dark one evening earlier this month, a small quadcopter drone lifted off from the parking lot of Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel.
From ACM News
What News-Writing Bots Mean For the Future of Journalism
When Republican Steve King beat back Democratic challenger Kim Weaver in the race for Iowa's 4th congressional district seat in November, The Washington Post snapped...
From ACM News
Physicists Teach AI to Identify Exotic States of Matter
Put a tray of water in the freezer. For a while, it's liquid. And then—boom—the molecules stack into little hexagons, and you've got ice.
From ACM Opinion
The AI Threat Isn't Skynet. It's the End of the Middle Class
In February 1975, a group of geneticists gathered in a tiny town on the central coast of California to decide if their work would bring about the end of the world...
From ACM News
For the Next Election, Don't Recount the Vote. Encrypt It
Let's be honest: The 2016 election wasn’t a sterling display of American democracy.
From ACM News
Google's Go-Playing Machine Opens the Door to Robots that Learn
Two robotic arms face two closed doors. Both reach forward and miss the door handles entirely.
From ACM News
Monero, the Drug Dealer's Cryptocurrency of Choice, Is on Fire
For the cryptocurrency community, 2016 was a very good year.
From ACM News
What Better Way For the Marines to Prepare For Future Wars Than With Sci-Fi?
Lance Cpl. Steven West steps into a remote enemy hideout clad in a 350-pound exoskeleton, sensors piercing the darkness and displaying digital info on his helmet...
From ACM TechNews
Wearables Could Soon Know You're Sick Before You Do
Consumer wearables, which track simple metrics such as step counts and heart rates, have the potential to provide actionable health data, according to Stanford...
From ACM News
Microsoft Thinks Machines Can Learn to Converse By Making Chat a Game
Microsoft is buying a deep learning startup based in Montreal, a global hub for deep learning research.
From ACM News
Darpa's Off-Roaders Ditch Windows For a Digital World View
Autonomous warriors may dominate the battlefield of tomorrow, but even those that still require human flesh will take on a robotic sheen. That shift could start...
From ACM News
2016: The Year That Deep Learning Took Over the Internet
On the west coast of Australia, Amanda Hodgson is launching drones out towards the Indian Ocean so that they can photograph the water from above.
From ACM News
The Year Encryption Won
Between the revelations of mega-hacks of Yahoo and others, Russia's meddling in the US electoral system, and the recent spike in ransomware, it's easy to look at...
From ACM News
Intel Bets It Can Turn Everyday Silicon Into Quantum Computing's Wonder Material
Sometimes the solution to a problem is staring you in the face all along.
From ACM News
Google's Improbable Deal to Recreate the Real World in Vr
Let a thousand virtual worlds rain down from the clouds. Or rather, the cloud.
From ACM News
7,500 Faceless Coders Paid in Bitcoin Built a Hedge Fund's Brain
Richard Craib is a 29-year-old South African who runs a hedge fund in San Francisco. Or rather, he doesn't run it.
From ACM News
Hacker Lexicon: What Is Perfect Forward Secrecy?
Encryption keeps your secrets, until it doesn't.
From ACM News
Google's Hand-Fed AI Now Gives Answers, Not Just Search Results
Ask the Google search app "What is the fastest bird on Earth?," and it will tell you.
From ACM News
Great. Now Even Your Headphones Can Spy on You
Cautious computer users put a piece of tape over their webcam.
From ACM News