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
Skinny Wormholes Could Send Messages Through Time
Like some bizarre form of optical fibre, a long, thin wormhole might let you send messages through time using pulses of light.
From ACM TechNews
My Duolingo Learning App Can Reshape Education
Carnegie Mellon University professor Luis von Ahn says he believes his Duolingo venture is determining what next-generation education will look like.
From ACM News
Quantum Positioning System Steps In When Gps Fails
In 2016 a British submarine will slip its moorings and set sail under the guidance of the quantum world.
From ACM News
Sentient Robots? Not Possible If You Do the Maths
So long, robot pals—and robot overlords.
From ACM News
Cheap Gadget Lets You Steer a Wheelchair with Your Eyes
Put some "crap" technology with some smart software and you get one life-changing solution.
From ACM News
Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex S in 2039
Brain chips mean we are struggling to distinguish our own thoughts from ideas implanted by advertisers.
From ACM News
Watson in Your Pocket: Supercomputer Gets Own Apps
If you could quiz Watson, IBM's all-knowing supercomputer, from an app on your phone, what would you ask it?
From ACM News
Virtual Earth Plays Out Fate of Life on the Planet
We can simulate the climate and we can even simulate babies. Now, we can simulate life on Earth, too—the vast and complex interactions of the living organisms on...
From ACM TechNews
Wikipedia Searches and Sick Tweets Predict Flu Cases
A new algorithm mines data from Wikipedia to track flu cases across the United States.
From ACM TechNews
Criminal Gang Connections Mapped via Phone Metadata
Software has been used to tap metadata from phones to map links between a criminal network in Sicily.
From ACM News
Atomic Time Lord to Battle Sneaky High-Speed Trades
Welcome to the room where time lives. I am standing in a space bristling with atomic clocks at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, U.K., which generates...
From ACM TechNews
Command a Glowing Robot Horde to Do Your Bidding
Researchers have built palm-sized glowing robots that can scurry along the ground at the command of someone using a tablet or a gesture-sensing camera.
From ACM TechNews
Google Glass Hackathon Spawns Bizarre No-Touch Apps
At a recent Google Glass hackathon, which developers used a new language called Wearscript to create a wide range of new applications for the wearable technology...
From ACM TechNews
Dolphin Whistle Instantly Translated By Computer
The Wild Dolphin Project is developing algorithms to analyze animal sounds to determine if information is transmitted, in an attempt to understand animal behavior...
From ACM News
The Robot Tricks to Bridge the Uncanny Valley
If A robot bleeped and squeaked with personality like R2D2 from Star Wars, would you like it better?
From ACM News
Space Diaries Reveal 6 Things on an Astronaut's Mind
While you are in space, could you keep a diary?
From ACM News
Hot on the Trail of Consciousness in Brain and Machine
"Nowhere in science have so many devoted so much to create so little consensus," writes physicist, author, and TV presenter Michio Kaku of consciousness research...
From ACM News
Perjurers and Fake Reviews Train Software to Spot Lies
Lawyers and judges use skill and instinct to sense who might be lying in court.
From ACM TechNews