Communications of the ACM
Welcome the Plants That Move on their Own
Exploring the potential of plant-robot hybrids that can produce architectural artifacts and living spaces.
From ACM NewsAn 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
Fewer than 200 People Watched the New Zealand Massacre Live. A Hateful Group Helped It Reach Millions
As the New Zealand gunman live-streamed the massacre onto Facebook, fewer than 200 people watched. The social network said its moderators removed it sometime after...
From ACM News
Despite U.S. Pressure, Germany Refuses to Exclude Huawei's 5G Technology
The race to build the next generation of super-fast mobile-data networks has begun in Germany, which started auctioning off its spectrum licenses for 5G on Tuesday...
From ACM TechNews
The Computer Scientist Who Wants to Put a Name to Every Face in Civil War Photographs
A researcher has combined crowdsourcing and facial recognition to produce online software that can help users identify unknown subjects in Civil War-era photos....
From ACM TechNews
Racing Against China, U.S. Reveals Details of $500 Million Supercomputer
The U.S. Department of Energy has disclosed the details of its newest $500-million supercomputer.
From ACM TechNews
Prisoners in England to Be Taught to Code
The U.K. government will fund a program in which "carefully vetted" prisoners will be taught software coding.
From ACM TechNews
U.S. Regulators Want Public's View on Cars with No Steering Wheel, Brake Pedals
A U.S. regulator is asking for public comments on whether autonomous cars lacking steering wheels and brake pedals should be allowed on the nation’s streets.
From ACM TechNews
The Best Image-Recognition AIs are Fooled by Slightly Rotated Images
Artificial intelligence is much worse at identifying objects by sight than many people realize.
From ACM News
How Social Media's Business Model Helped the New Zealand Massacre Go Viral
The ability of Internet users to spread a video of Friday's slaughter in New Zealand marked a triumph—however appalling—of human ingenuity over computerized systems...
From ACM News
A 'Halo Drive' Could Accelerate Interstellar Spacecraft to Close to the Speed of Light
Back in 2016, the physicist Stephen Hawking and the billionaire Yuri Milner unveiled a plan to travel to the stars. The so-called Breakthrough Starshot project...
From ACM News
NASA Mission Reveals Asteroid Has Big Surprises
A NASA spacecraft that will return a sample of a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu to Earth in 2023 made the first-ever close-up observations of particle plumes erupting...
From ACM TechNews
UNSW, Sydney Uni Join Quantum Powers to Prove Qubit Theory
Researchers in Australia are combining their quantum computing powers, uniting methods designed by researchers at each university to prove their feasibility.
From ACM TechNews
Origami-Inspired Robot Gripper Grasps Objects Up to 120 Times Its Weight
Researchers have designed a robot-mounted gripper that can lift items of various weights, shapes, and sizes.
From ACM TechNews
Companies With Tech Expertise on the Board See Higher Revenue Growth, MIT Study Finds
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology found enterprises with technologists on their boards have superior revenue growth, return on assets, and market capitalization...
From ACM TechNews
Top U.S. Universities Shun Cash From Huawei Under Trump Pressure
Pressure from Congress and the Trump administration has forced top U.S. universities to refuse research funding from China's Huawei Technologies over national security...
From ACM News
Stanford Helped Pioneer Artificial Intelligence. Now the University Wants to Put Humans at Its Center.
A Stanford University scientist coined the term artificial intelligence. Others at the university created some of the most significant applications of it, such...
From ACM News
Why AI Is Still Terrible at Spotting Violence Online
Artificial intelligence can identify people in pictures, find the next TV series you should binge watch on Netflix, and even drive a car.
From ACM Opinion
The Uncanny Valley Nobody's Talking About: Eerie Robot Voices
Call it the Great Convergence of Creepiness. The first bit, the uncanny valley, we're all familiar with by now: If a humanoid robot looks super realistic, but not...
From ACM TechNews
Diversity in Tech: How One VC Firm Is Partnering With Historically Black Colleges to Address the Pipeline Issue
Unusual Ventures this summer will launch a program designed to increase the number of black students working in technical internships.
From ACM TechNews
Sensor Cited as Potential Factor in Boeing Crashes Draws Scrutiny
Sensors Boeing was ordered to replace following the near-crash of an Airbus A321 in 2014 are drawing fresh scrutiny after two recent Boeing 737 disasters.12