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In 1968, Computers Got Personal: How the 'Mother of All Demos' Changed the World
From ACM Opinion

In 1968, Computers Got Personal: How the 'Mother of All Demos' Changed the World

On a crisp California afternoon in early December 1968, a square-jawed, mild-mannered Stanford researcher named Douglas Engelbart took the stage at San Francisco's...

Ten Years of Large Hadron Collider Discoveries Are Just the Start of Decoding the ­niverse
From ACM Opinion

Ten Years of Large Hadron Collider Discoveries Are Just the Start of Decoding the ­niverse

Ten years! Ten years since the start of operations for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), one of the most complex machines ever created.

What is Cyberwar?
From ACM Opinion

What is Cyberwar?

At its core, cyberwarfare refers the use of digital attacks by one country or nation to disrupt the computer systems of another with the aim of create significant...

For Safety's Sake, We Must Slow Innovation in Internet-Connected Things
From ACM Opinion

For Safety's Sake, We Must Slow Innovation in Internet-Connected Things

Smart gadgets are everywhere.

Are We Ready for the Future of Warfare?
From ACM Opinion

Are We Ready for the Future of Warfare?

Warfare has always been about exerting political will.

3-D Printed Gun Blueprints Are Back, and Only New Laws Can Stop Them
From ACM Opinion

3-D Printed Gun Blueprints Are Back, and Only New Laws Can Stop Them

Attorneys general from 20 states celebrated on Monday when a district court judge in Seattle extended an injunction against the sharing of 3-D printed gun blueprints...

Math Shows How DNA Twists, Turns and ­nzips
From ACM Opinion

Math Shows How DNA Twists, Turns and ­nzips

If you've ever seen a picture of a DNA molecule, you probably saw it in its famous B-form: two strands coiling around each other in a right-handed fashion to form...

Why the Future of Data Storage is (Still) Magnetic Tape
From ACM Opinion

Why the Future of Data Storage is (Still) Magnetic Tape

It should come as no surprise that recent advances in big-data analytics and artificial intelligence have created strong incentives for enterprises to amass information...

It's Not Technology That's Disrupting Our Jobs
From ACM Opinion

It's Not Technology That's Disrupting Our Jobs

When we learn about the Industrial Revolution in school, we hear a lot about factories, steam engines, maybe the power loom.

How D-Wave's Quantum Machine Could Help Exotic Physics
From ACM Opinion

How D-Wave's Quantum Machine Could Help Exotic Physics

Picture a computer. Now I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you were probably thinking of your laptop, or maybe even your smartphone if you're being smart...

Overtrust in the Robotic Age
From Communications of the ACM

Overtrust in the Robotic Age

A contemporary ethical challenge.

I Just Hacked a State Election. I'm 17. And I'm Not Even a Very Good Hacker.
From ACM Opinion

I Just Hacked a State Election. I'm 17. And I'm Not Even a Very Good Hacker.

It took me around 10 minutes to crash the upcoming midterm elections.

What Went Wrong With IBM's Watson
From ACM Opinion

What Went Wrong With IBM's Watson

What if artificial intelligence can't cure cancer after all?

Who Needs Democracy When You Have Data?
From ACM Opinion

Who Needs Democracy When You Have Data?

In 1955, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov published a short story about an experiment in "electronic democracy," in which a single citizen, selected to represent...

A Bold Mission to Touch the Sun
From ACM Opinion

A Bold Mission to Touch the Sun

On Sunday, August 12, NASA launched a bold mission to fly directly into the sun's atmosphere, with a spacecraft named the Parker Solar Probe, after solar astrophysicist...

Billion-Dollar Telescopes Could End ­p Beyond the Reach of ­S Astronomers
From ACM Opinion

Billion-Dollar Telescopes Could End ­p Beyond the Reach of ­S Astronomers

Every ten years, US astronomers set research priorities for the following decade.

The Future of Television Is … More Television
From ACM Opinion

The Future of Television Is … More Television

Call it Jeffrey Katzenberg's unicorn newborn. An operating company has come into being, ex nihilo, with the blandest of names—NewTV—and a valuation north of $1...

What Are Rare Earths, Crucial Elements in Modern Technology? 4 Questions Answered
From ACM Opinion

What Are Rare Earths, Crucial Elements in Modern Technology? 4 Questions Answered

Most Americans use rare earth elements every day—without knowing it, or knowing anything about what they do. That could change, as these unusual materials are becoming...

Honoring the '80s, Def Con's Badge Is also a Text Adventure
From ACM Opinion

Honoring the '80s, Def Con's Badge Is also a Text Adventure

Nearly 30,000 people came to Las Vegas last week for the 26th edition of DEF CON, the iconic security conference. And no small amount of the mental energy of that...

Hackers Are Out to Jeopardize Your Vote
From ACM Opinion

Hackers Are Out to Jeopardize Your Vote

Russian hackers targeted US electoral systems during the 2016 presidential election.
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