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
Inside Big Tech’s High-stakes Race for Quantum Supremacy
Quantum computers used to be an impossible dream. Now, after a decade of research by some of the world's biggest tech companies, they're on the verge of changing...
From ACM News
The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the Hacker Who Saved the Internet
At 22, he single-handedly put a stop to the worst cyberattack the world had ever seen. Then he was arrested by the FBI. This is his untold story.
From ACM TechNews
How a Real Dog Taught a Robot Dog to Walk
Researchers at Google have developed a robotic dog and taught it to walk by showing it motion-capture videos of real dogs walking on treadmills.
From ACM TechNews
This Clever Robotic Finger Feels With Light
A new robotic skeleton is embedded with 32 photodiodes and 30 adjacent LEDs, and is covered by a squishy skin of reflective silicone that keeps the device's own...
From ACM News
We’re not prepared for the end of Moore’s Law
It has fueled prosperity of the last 50 years. But the end is now in sight.
From ACM News
Python Is More Popular Than Ever
Despite a rocky transition from Python 2 to Python 3, developers are still flocking to the programming language.
From ACM News
The Secret History of Facial Recognition
Sixty years ago, a sharecropper's son invented a technology to identify faces. Then the record of his role all but vanished.
From ACM TechNews
Intel Patching the Patch for the Patch for 'Zombieload' Flaw
Intel said it will release yet another patch for a microarchitectural data sampling vulnerability that allows hackers to fool microprocessors into exposing protected...
From ACM News
AI Can Do Great Things—if It Doesn't Burn the Planet
The computing power required for AI landmarks, such as recognizing images and defeating humans at Go, increased 300,000-fold from 2012 to 2018.
From ACM News
Washington Must Bet Big on AI or Lose Its Global Clout
A new report says $25 billion—and a more welcoming attitude toward foreign talent—is needed to keep the U.S. in the technology race with China.
From ACM News
A Sobering Message About the Future at AI's Biggest Party
Leaders in artificial intelligence warn that progress is slowing, big challenges remain, and simply throwing more computers at a problem isn't sustainable.
From ACM News
Hackers Can Mess With Voltages to Steal Intel Chips' Secrets
A new attack called Plundervolt gives attackers access to the sensitive data stored in a processor's secure enclave.
From ACM News
50 Years Later, We Still Don't Grasp the Mother of All Demos
Doug Engelbart didn't just want to show off new technology. He wanted to demonstrate a system for improving humanity.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Spot Undersea Fault Using Fiber-Optic Cables
Scientists discovered a new underwater fault five miles off Monterey Bay, CA, through the use of infrared laser pulses fired along an idle fiber-optic cable.
From ACM News
Bitcoin Will Burn the Planet Down. The Question: How Fast?
A new paper concludes that it takes more than four times as much energy to mine $1 of bitcoin as mining $1 of copper.
From ACM TechNews
Decades-Old Code Putting Millions of Critical Devices at Risk
Recently discovered vulnerabilities in a nearly 20-year-old industry standard network protocol from Interpeak could potentially make millions of devices exploitable...
From ACM TechNews
Map Shows All the Code Connections Between Russia's Hacker Groups
Israeli cybersecurity firms Check Point and Intezer have charted Russian hackers' toolkits from wide-ranging analysis of 2,500 malware samples.
From ACM News
Artificial Intelligence Confronts a 'Reproducibility' Crisis
Machine-learning systems are black boxes even to the researchers that build them. That makes it hard for others to assess the results.
From ACM News
Google Wants to Help Tech Companies Know Less About You
By releasing its homegrown differential privacy tool, Google will make it easier for any company to boost its privacy bona fides.
From ACM News