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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


Computing Glitch May Have Doomed Mars Lander
From ACM News

Computing Glitch May Have Doomed Mars Lander

Photos of a huge circle of churned-up Martian soil leave few doubts: a European Space Agency (ESA) probe that was supposed to test landing technology on Mars crashed...

Icy Heart Could Be Key to Pluto's Strange Geology
From ACM News

Icy Heart Could Be Key to Pluto's Strange Geology

Pluto's icy heart beats with a planetary rhythm.

Inside Microsoft's Quest For a Topological Quantum Computer
From ACM Opinion

Inside Microsoft's Quest For a Topological Quantum Computer

The race is on build a "universal" quantum computer. Such a device could be programmed to speedily solve problems that classical computers cannot crack, potentially...

The Power of Prediction Markets
From ACM News

The Power of Prediction Markets

It was a great way to mix science with gambling, says Anna Dreber.

The Polling Crisis: How to Tell What People Really Think
From ACM News

The Polling Crisis: How to Tell What People Really Think

Hillary Clinton is heading for a landslide victory over Donald Trump. But wait.

Europe and Russia Prepare For Historic Landing on Mars
From ACM News

Europe and Russia Prepare For Historic Landing on Mars

Almost three weeks after it crash-landed the Rosetta orbiter on a comet, the European Space Agency (ESA) is gearing up to land another spacecraft—this time on Mars...

­niverse Has Ten Times More Galaxies Than Researchers Thought
From ACM News

­niverse Has Ten Times More Galaxies Than Researchers Thought

The observable Universe contains about 2 trillion galaxies—more than ten times as many as previously estimated, according to the first significant revision of the...

Google's AI Reasons Its Way Around the London ­nderground
From ACM News

Google's AI Reasons Its Way Around the London ­nderground

Artificial-intelligence systems known as neural networks can recognize images, translate languages and even master the ancient game of Go. But their limited ability...

Pioneering Brain Implant Restores Paralysed Man's Sense of Touch
From ACM News

Pioneering Brain Implant Restores Paralysed Man's Sense of Touch

For the first time, a paralysed man has gained a limited sense of touch, thanks to an electric implant that stimulates his brain and allows him to feel pressure...

World's Tiniest Machines Win Chemistry Nobel
From ACM News

World's Tiniest Machines Win Chemistry Nobel

Three chemists who created tiny molecular machines have won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their intricate designs.

Can We Open the Black Box of Ai?
From ACM News

Can We Open the Black Box of Ai?

Dean Pomerleau can still remember his first tussle with the black-box problem.

Deep Learning Boosts Google Translate Tool
From ACM News

Deep Learning Boosts Google Translate Tool

Google's online translation service, Google Translate, will soon be using a new algorithm that is entirely based on deep learning, the company announced on 27 September...

­S Sharpens Surveillance of Crippling Solar Storms
From ACM News

­S Sharpens Surveillance of Crippling Solar Storms

In the fight to protect Earth from solar storms, the battle lines are drawn in space at a point 1.6 million kilometres away.

Comet Crash: A Guide to Rosetta's Big Finale
From ACM News

Comet Crash: A Guide to Rosetta's Big Finale

The Rosetta comet orbiter will meet a sticky end on 30 September, but not before a finale that should see it gather the most detailed images yet of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko—or...

Daring Chinese Telescope Is Poised to Transform Astronomy
From ACM News

Daring Chinese Telescope Is Poised to Transform Astronomy

Set in a remote natural depression in the mountainous region of Guizhou, China, the world's largest single-dish telescope is on the brink of sparking a new era...

Worldwide Brain-Mapping Project Sparks Excitement, and Concern
From ACM News

Worldwide Brain-Mapping Project Sparks Excitement, and Concern

Worries include how to coordinate research programs and resources from different countries.

Geneticists Attempt to Heal Rifts with Aboriginal Communities
From ACM News

Geneticists Attempt to Heal Rifts with Aboriginal Communities

In 1938, anthropologists Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell set off on an 18-month, 29,000-kilometre expedition to survey Australia's indigenous groups.

Mars Contamination Fear Could Divert Curiosity Rover
From ACM News

Mars Contamination Fear Could Divert Curiosity Rover

Four years into its travels across Mars, NASA's Curiosity rover faces an un­expected challenge: wending its way safely among dozens of dark streaks that could indicate...

Print Your Own 3D Lucy to Work Out How the Famous Hominin Died
From ACM News

Print Your Own 3D Lucy to Work Out How the Famous Hominin Died

The world's most famous fossil is now open source. 3D scans of Lucy—a 3.18-million-year-old hominin found in Ethiopia—were released on 29 August, allowing anyone...

Majority of Mathematicians Hail from Just 24 Scientific 'families'
From ACM Careers

Majority of Mathematicians Hail from Just 24 Scientific 'families'

Most of the world's mathematicians fall into just 24 scientific 'families', one of which dates back to the fifteenth century.
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