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
Intriguing Geology of Ceres Revealed in New Pictures
Ceres, the largest asteroid in the Solar System, is finally getting its close-up. NASA's Dawn spacecraft arrived in March, and is now taking photographs from as...
From ACM News
Europe's First Humans: What Scientists Do and Don't Know
Over the past two years, breakthroughs in ancient genomics and archaeology have revolutionized the story of the first humans in Europe—who are thought to have appeared ...
From ACM News
Ancient American Genome Rekindles Legal Row
The genome of a famous 8,500-year-old North American skeleton, known as Kennewick Man, shows that he is closely related to Native American tribes that have for...
From ACM Careers
U.s. 'export Rules' Threaten Research
The U.S. government is considering policy changes that could dramatically affect how researchers handle equipment and information that have national-security implications...
From ACM News
The Pentagon's Gamble on Brain Implants, Bionic Limbs and Combat Exoskeletons
When Geoffrey Ling talks about the future of technology, his ideas go flying around the room like a whirlwind.
From ACM News
Image Software Spots Links in Tattoo Ink
In an unusual twist on biometrics research, US computer scientists have joined with law-enforcement officials to find new ways to automatically detect tattoos on...
From ACM Careers
Crispr, the Disruptor
Three years ago, Bruce Conklin came across a method that made him change the course of his lab.
From ACM News
Military Technology: Laser Weapons Get Real
Silently, the drone aircraft glides above the arid terrain of New Mexico—until it suddenly pivots out of control and plummets to the ground.
From ACM News
'instinctive' Robot Recovers From Injury Fast
Computer scientists have endowed a six-legged robot with the ability to rapidly modify its motion to cope with damage, such as the loss of a foot.
From ACM News
.s. Science Academies Take On Human-Genome Editing
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) will launch a major initiative to develop guidelines for editing human genomes...
From ACM News
Five Factors That Will Decide If Philae Wakes
Ever since the European Space Agency's Philae lander ran out of batteries on 15 November, just three days after it bounced on to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko...
From ACM News
Pluto-Bound Craft Hunts For Hazardous Moons
On 11 May, a telescope aboard a NASA craft will turn and stare at Pluto—like a space-robot equivalent of a sailor watching for shoals that could take out his vessel...
From ACM Opinion
Mercury Mission Set to End with Dramatic Crash
On 30 April, after more than four years in orbit around Mercury, NASA's MESSENGER probe will plunge to its doom.
From ACM News
3D Simulations of Colliding Black Holes Hailed As Most Realistic Yet
When astronomers try to simulate colliding giant black holes, they usually rely on simplified approximations to model the swirling disks of matter that surround...
From ACM News
Rule Rewrite Aims to Clean Up Scientific Software
The finding seemed counterintuitive: warming in North America was driving plant species to lower elevations—not towards higher, cooler climes, as ecologists had...
From ACM News
The Printed Organs Coming to a Body Near You
The advent of three-dimensional (3D) printing has generated a swell of interest in artificial organs meant to replace, or even enhance, human machinery.
From ACM News
Mystery of Ceres' Bright Spots Grows
Not all of the puzzling bright spots on the dwarf planet Ceres are alike.
From ACM News
Mercury Seen As Never Before
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is set to plunge to its doom on 30 April, ending nearly four years of exploration of Mercury. Before it goes, the mission is sending...
From ACM News
Complex Molecules Made to Order in Synthesis Machine
Synthesizing complex molecules is a notoriously fiendish art—and a daily toil for many chemists.
From ACM News