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
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
Quantum Physics: What Is Really Real?
Owen Maroney worries that physicists have spent the better part of a century engaging in fraud.
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
The Trouble with Reference Rot
The scholarly literature is meant to be a permanent record of science.
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,...
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
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...
From ACM Opinion
Top 10 Hubble Images
As the famous telescope turns 25, scientists who worked on the project choose their favourite pictures.
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
Large Hadron Collider Restarts
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has kicked off its second run, as protons circulated in the machine after a two-year break.
From ACM News
Mini Enzyme Moves Gene Editing Closer to the Clinic
A tweak to a technique that edits DNA with pinpoint precision has boosted its ability to correct defective genes in people.
From ACM News
Neuron Encyclopaedia Fires p to Reveal Brain Secrets
An ambitious plan is afoot to build the world's largest public catalogue of neuronal structures.
From ACM News