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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.


Crumb of Mouse Brain Reconstructed in Full Detail
From ACM News

Crumb of Mouse Brain Reconstructed in Full Detail

Six years might seem like a long time to spend piecing together the structure of a scrap of tissue vastly smaller than a bead of sweat.

Hacked Molecular Machine Could Pump Out Custom Proteins
From ACM News

Hacked Molecular Machine Could Pump Out Custom Proteins

By hijacking the cellular machinery that makes proteins, bioengineers have developed a tool that could allow them to better understand protein synthesis, explore...

Neanderthals Had Outsize Effect on Human Biology
From ACM News

Neanderthals Had Outsize Effect on Human Biology

Our ancestors were not a picky bunch.

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Gets a $100-Million Boost
From ACM News

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Gets a $100-Million Boost

You could say that the silence has been deafening.

The 24/7 Search For Killer Quakes
From ACM News

The 24/7 Search For Killer Quakes

At 17 minutes past midnight on Saturday 25 April, Rob Sanders's computer started chiming with alerts.

Machine Ethics: The Robot's Dilemma
From ACM News

Machine Ethics: The Robot's Dilemma

In his 1942 short story 'Runaround', science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov introduced the Three Laws of Robotics—engineering safeguards and built-in ethical principles...

Computers Read the Fossil Record
From ACM News

Computers Read the Fossil Record

For a field whose raison d'être is to chronicle the deep past, palaeontology is remarkably forward-looking when it comes to organizing its data.

Europe's First Humans: What Scientists Do and Don't Know
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 ...

Ancient American Genome Rekindles Legal Row
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...

U.s. 'export Rules' Threaten Research
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...

The Pentagon's Gamble on Brain Implants, Bionic Limbs and Combat Exoskeletons
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.

Image Software Spots Links in Tattoo Ink
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...

Crispr, the Disruptor
From ACM Careers

Crispr, the Disruptor

Three years ago, Bruce Conklin came across a method that made him change the course of his lab.

Military Technology: Laser Weapons Get Real
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.

Quantum Physics: What Is Really Real?
From ACM News

Quantum Physics: What Is Really Real?

Owen Maroney worries that physicists have spent the better part of a century engaging in fraud.

­.s. Science Academies Take On Human-Genome Editing
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...

The Trouble with Reference Rot
From ACM News

The Trouble with Reference Rot

The scholarly literature is meant to be a permanent record of science.

Nih Reiterates Ban on Editing Human Embryo Dna
From ACM Careers

Nih Reiterates Ban on Editing Human Embryo Dna

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reaffirmed its ban on research that involves gene editing of human embryos. In a statement released on 29 April,...

Mercury Mission Set to End with Dramatic Crash
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.

Ethics of Embryo Editing Paper Divides Scientists
From ACM News

Ethics of Embryo Editing Paper Divides Scientists

In the wake of the first ever report that scientists have edited the genomes of human embryos, experts cannot agree on whether the work was ethical. They also disagree...
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