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subjectPerformance And Reliability
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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.


Spoof, Jam, Destroy: Why We Need a Backup for GPS
From ACM News

Spoof, Jam, Destroy: Why We Need a Backup for GPS

Earth got a warning shot on January 25, 2016. On that day, Air Force engineers were scheduled to kill off a GPS satellite named SVN-23—the oldest in the navigation...

These Perfectly Imperfect Diamonds Are Built for Quantum Physics
From ACM News

These Perfectly Imperfect Diamonds Are Built for Quantum Physics

In the mid-2000S, diamonds were the hot new thing in physics. It wasn't because of their size, color, or sparkle, though.

AI Just Learned How to Boost the Brain's Memory
From ACM News

AI Just Learned How to Boost the Brain's Memory

When it comes to black boxes, there is none more black than the human brain. Our gray matter is so complex, scientists lament, that it can't quite understand itself...

Inside Amazon's Artificial Intelligence Flywheel
From ACM Careers

Inside Amazon's Artificial Intelligence Flywheel

In early 2014, Srikanth Thirumalai met with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Thank the Planet's Shifty Magnetic Poles For Runway Renaming
From ACM News

Thank the Planet's Shifty Magnetic Poles For Runway Renaming

For decades, pilots heading into or out of Wichita Eisenhower National Airport in southeast Kansas have had three runways to choose from: 1L/19R, 1R/19L, and 14...

A New Way to Track Down Bugs Could Help Save Iot
From ACM News

A New Way to Track Down Bugs Could Help Save Iot

On a clear day this summer, security researcher Ang Cui boarded a boat headed to a government biosafety facility off the northeastern tip of Long Island.

When Wi-Fi Won't Work, Let Sound Carry Your Data
From ACM News

When Wi-Fi Won't Work, Let Sound Carry Your Data

If you've ever struggled to pair your phone with a Bluetooth speaker or set up a wireless printer, you know that it's often easier to connect to a server halfway...

Triple Meltdown: How So Many Researchers Found a 20-Year-Old Chip Flaw At the Same Time
From ACM News

Triple Meltdown: How So Many Researchers Found a 20-Year-Old Chip Flaw At the Same Time

Four groups of researchers independently found the vulnerabilities behind the devastating Meltdown and Spectre attacks within months of each other.

A Dead-Simple Algorithm Reveals the True Toll of Voter Id Laws
From ACM TechNews

A Dead-Simple Algorithm Reveals the True Toll of Voter Id Laws

Researchers have demonstrated it is possible to match individuals across government databases with nearly 100% accuracy by using a few basic identifiers.

A Critical Intel Flaw Breaks Basic Security For Most Computers
From ACM News

A Critical Intel Flaw Breaks Basic Security For Most Computers

One of the most basic premises of computer security is isolation: If you run somebody else's sketchy code as an untrusted process on your machine, you should restrict...

Physics Found Gravitational Waves. Now Come the Existential Questions
From ACM News

Physics Found Gravitational Waves. Now Come the Existential Questions

On September 14, 2015, at 3:50 AM Central time, a tiny vibration shuddered down the 2.5-mile-long arms of a massive machine in Livingston, Louisiana.

Researchers Fooled a Google AI Into Thinking a Rifle Was a Helicopter
From ACM News

Researchers Fooled a Google AI Into Thinking a Rifle Was a Helicopter

Tech giants love to tout how good their computers are at identifying what's depicted in a photograph.

The Hard Math Behind Bitcoin's Global Warming Problem
From ACM TechNews

The Hard Math Behind Bitcoin's Global Warming Problem

A recent report calculated that the global electricity consumption of bitcoin mining would exceed that of the U.S. by July 2019, and of the entire world by November...

Artificial Intelligence Is Killing the Uncanny Valley and Our Grasp on Reality
From ACM TechNews

Artificial Intelligence Is Killing the Uncanny Valley and Our Grasp on Reality

As deep-learning artificial intelligence technologies advance, the "Uncanny Valley"--the unease people feel toward realistic computer-generated humans--is beginning...

Unprecedented Malware Targets Industrial Safety Systems in the Middle East
From ACM News

Unprecedented Malware Targets Industrial Safety Systems in the Middle East

Since Stuxnet first targeted and destroyed uranium enrichment centrifuges in Iran last decade, the cybersecurity world has waited for the next step in that digital...

Google Is Giving Away AI That Can Build Your Genome Sequence
From ACM News

Google Is Giving Away AI That Can Build Your Genome Sequence

Today, a teaspoon of spit and a hundred bucks is all you need to get a snapshot of your DNA. But getting the full picture—all 3 billion base pairs of your genome—requires...

The Genesis of Kuri, the Friendly Home Robot
From ACM News

The Genesis of Kuri, the Friendly Home Robot

Over the course  of thousands of years, dogs have evolved alongside humans to be awesome.

Captcha Is Dying. This Is How It's Being Reinvented For the AI Age
From ACM TechNews

Captcha Is Dying. This Is How It's Being Reinvented For the AI Age

Completely Automated Public Turing Tests to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHAs) appear to be heading toward obsolescence.

Google's AI Wizard ­nveils a New Twist on Neural Networks
From ACM News

Google's AI Wizard ­nveils a New Twist on Neural Networks

If you want to blame someone for the hoopla around artificial intelligence, 69-year-old Google researcher Geoff Hinton is a good candidate.

These Neurons Are Alive and Firing. And You Can Watch Them in 3-D
From ACM News

These Neurons Are Alive and Firing. And You Can Watch Them in 3-D

For patients with epilepsy, or cancerous brain lesions, sometimes the only way to forward is down.
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