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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectSoftware
authorScientific American
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Let's ­se the Government's Massive Databases to Make Better Policy
From ACM Opinion

Let's ­se the Government's Massive Databases to Make Better Policy

Members of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking appear before Congress this week to present their final report (pdf). 

What We Know About the Climate Change-Hurricane Connection
From ACM Opinion

What We Know About the Climate Change-Hurricane Connection

With Texas just beginning to recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey and the Southeastern U.S. preparing for Hurricane Irma's iminent arrival, people...

Is the Power Grid Getting More Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?
From ACM Opinion

Is the Power Grid Getting More Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?

Two weeks ago it was cyberattacks on the Irish power grid. Last month it was a digital assault on U.S. energy companies, including a nuclear power plant. Back in...

Magical Technologies Just Over the Horizon
From ACM Opinion

Magical Technologies Just Over the Horizon

We the people have always been helplessly drawn to the concept of magic: the notion that you can will something to happen by wiggling your nose, speaking special...

Preserving the Right to Cognitive Liberty
From ACM Opinion

Preserving the Right to Cognitive Liberty

The idea of the human mind as the domain of absolute protection from external intrusion has persisted for centuries.

Profile of Claude Shannon, Inventor of Information Theory
From ACM Opinion

Profile of Claude Shannon, Inventor of Information Theory

Claude Shannon couldn't sit still.

Is Anyone Home? A Way to Find Out If AI Has Become Self-Aware
From ACM Opinion

Is Anyone Home? A Way to Find Out If AI Has Become Self-Aware

Every moment of your waking life and whenever you dream, you have the distinct inner feeling of being "you."

Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
From ACM Opinion

Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

As recent high school graduates prepare for their migration to college in the fall, one item is sure to top most students' shopping wish lists: a laptop computer...

20 Years After Deep Blue: How AI Has Advanced Since Conquering Chess
From ACM Opinion

20 Years After Deep Blue: How AI Has Advanced Since Conquering Chess

Twenty years ago IBM's Deep Blue computer stunned the world by becoming the first machine to beat a reigning world chess champion in a six-game match.

Ghost in the Sell: Hollywood's Mischievous Vision of AI
From ACM Opinion

Ghost in the Sell: Hollywood's Mischievous Vision of AI

Watch enough science fiction movies and you'll probably come to the conclusion that humans are living on borrowed time.

The ­ltimate Cure For the Fake-News Epidemic Will Be More Skeptical Readers
From ACM Opinion

The ­ltimate Cure For the Fake-News Epidemic Will Be More Skeptical Readers

"Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President." "FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead of Apparent Murder-Suicide." "Rush Reveals...

Darpa's Biotech Chief Says 2017 Will 'blow Our Minds'
From ACM Opinion

Darpa's Biotech Chief Says 2017 Will 'blow Our Minds'

The Pentagon's research and development division, DARPA—the creative force behind the internet and GPS—retooled itself three years ago to create a new office dedicated...

Trump's First 100 Days: Technology, Privacy and Intelligence 
From ACM Opinion

Trump's First 100 Days: Technology, Privacy and Intelligence 

President-elect Donald Trump's views on technology and tech policy were not prominent campaign features on his contentious path to the White House.

Trump's Plans to Shake ­p the Tech World
From ACM Opinion

Trump's Plans to Shake ­p the Tech World

Donald Trump's ascension to the White House had very little to do with his views on the spread of high-speed broadband, wireless spectrum allocation—or any number...

Richard Dawkins and Other Prominent Scientists React to Trump's Win
From ACM Opinion

Richard Dawkins and Other Prominent Scientists React to Trump's Win

This week the U.S. elected businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump as its 45th president. As Scientific American has reported in the run-up to the election...

Why Robots Must Learn to Tell ­S 'no'
From ACM Opinion

Why Robots Must Learn to Tell ­S 'no'

HAL 9000, the sentient computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, offers an ominous glimpse of a future in which machines endowed with artificial intelligence reject human...

E-Voting Refuses to Die Even Though It's Neither Secure Nor Secret
From ACM Opinion

E-Voting Refuses to Die Even Though It's Neither Secure Nor Secret

In theory, using the internet or e-mail to vote for the U.S. president sounds like a good idea.

AI Is Not Out to Get ­S
From ACM Opinion

AI Is Not Out to Get ­S

Elon Musk's new plan to go all-in on self-driving vehicles puts a lot of faith in the artificial intelligence needed to ensure his Teslas can read and react to...

Could Obama's Threat of Retaliation Against Russia Lead to Cyberwar?
From ACM Opinion

Could Obama's Threat of Retaliation Against Russia Lead to Cyberwar?

Late last week Obama administration officials used NBC News to send Moscow a cryptic threat: The U.S. government is "contemplating an unprecedented cyber covert...

Grading the Presidential Candidates on Science
From ACM Opinion

Grading the Presidential Candidates on Science

Two weeks ago, Scientific American asked for your help in grading the presidential candidates on their answers to 20 questions about various aspects of scientific...
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