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Mars Beckons
From ACM Opinion

Mars Beckons

The science and technology behind NASA's latest space explorer to land on Mars are so awe-inducing that it's hardly surprising when scientists commenting on the...

CRISPR Inventor Feng Zhang Calls for Moratorium on Gene-Edited Babies
From ACM Opinion

CRISPR Inventor Feng Zhang Calls for Moratorium on Gene-Edited Babies

Feng Zhang, one of the inventors of the gene-editing technique CRISPR, has called for a global moratorium on using the technology to create gene-edited babies. ...

Try Landing InSight on Mars (Without Exploding)
From ACM Opinion

Try Landing InSight on Mars (Without Exploding)

NASA just parked its InSight lander on Mars. Yes, Mars. This is a pretty big deal since quite a few Mars missions didn't make it.

 Inspired by Sci-Fi, an Airplane with No Moving Parts and a Blue Ionic Glow
From ACM Opinion

Inspired by Sci-Fi, an Airplane with No Moving Parts and a Blue Ionic Glow

Since their invention more than 100 years ago, airplanes have been moved through the air by the spinning surfaces of propellers or turbines.

One of the Fathers of AI Is Worried About Its Future
From ACM Opinion

One of the Fathers of AI Is Worried About Its Future

Yoshua Bengio is a grand master of modern artificial intelligence.

You Know What? Go Ahead and ­se the Hotel Wi-Fi
From ACM Opinion

You Know What? Go Ahead and ­se the Hotel Wi-Fi

As you travel this holiday season, bouncing from airport to airplane to hotel, you'll likely find yourself facing a familiar quandary: Do I really trust this ...

Video Doesn't Capture Truth
From ACM Opinion

Video Doesn't Capture Truth

The White House has revoked the press pass of Jim Acosta, CNN's chief White House correspondent, after a testy exchange between the reporter and President Trump...

The Case Against Quantum Computing
From ACM Opinion

The Case Against Quantum Computing

Quantum computing is all the rage. It seems like hardly a day goes by without some news outlet describing the extraordinary things this technology promises.

Sci-Fi Movies Are the Secret Weapon that Could Help Silicon Valley Grow Up
From ACM Opinion

Sci-Fi Movies Are the Secret Weapon that Could Help Silicon Valley Grow Up

If there's one line that stands the test of time in Steven Spielbergs 1993 classic "Jurassic Park," it's probably Jeff Goldblum's exclamation, "Your scientists...

Your Smartphone Photos Are Totally Fake, and You Love It
From ACM Opinion

Your Smartphone Photos Are Totally Fake, and You Love It

The little camera on this phone has a superpower: It can see things our eyes cannot.

Fake News: Can Teenagers Spot It?
From ACM Opinion

Fake News: Can Teenagers Spot It?

If we are to make it less of a threat to democracy, that effort is going to need to start in schools.

At China’s Internet Conference, a Darker Side of Tech Emerges
From ACM Opinion

At China’s Internet Conference, a Darker Side of Tech Emerges

Every year at the World Internet Conference, held since 2014 in the photogenic canal town of Wuzhen near Shanghai, companies and government officials have convened ...

What the Midterm Election Results Mean for Big Tech
From ACM Opinion

What the Midterm Election Results Mean for Big Tech

It may not have been the tsunami some expected, but the Democrat's long-promised blue wave was enough to carry the party to a majority in the House of Representatives ...

Colonizing Mars Means Contaminating Mars, and Never Knowing for Sure If It Had Its Own Native Life
From ACM Opinion

Colonizing Mars Means Contaminating Mars, and Never Knowing for Sure If It Had Its Own Native Life

The closest place in the universe where extraterrestrial life might exist is Mars, and human beings are poised to attempt to colonize this planetary neighbor within...

Even a Few Bots Can Shift Public Opinion in Big Ways
From ACM Opinion

Even a Few Bots Can Shift Public Opinion in Big Ways

Nearly two-thirds of the social media bots with political activity on Twitter before the 2016 U.S. presidential election supported Donald Trump.

What the Boston School Bus Schedule Can Teach ­s About AI
From ACM Opinion

What the Boston School Bus Schedule Can Teach ­s About AI

When the Boston public school system announced new start times last December, some parents found the schedules unacceptable and pushed back.

The Real Houseguest of the Ecuadorian Embassy
From ACM Opinion

The Real Houseguest of the Ecuadorian Embassy

If Julian Assange of WikiLeaks denies the Ecuadorian government's stinging charge that he's a disgusting houseguest, he'd do well not to deny that charge "categorically...

The Vulnerabilities of Our Voting Machines
From ACM Opinion

The Vulnerabilities of Our Voting Machines

A few weeks ago computer scientist J. Alex Halderman rolled an electronic voting machine onto a Massachusetts Institute of Technology stage and demonstrated how...

Nobody's Cellphone Is Really That Secure
From ACM Opinion

Nobody's Cellphone Is Really That Secure

Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that the Russians and the Chinese were eavesdropping on President Donald Trump's personal cellphone and using the...

The Russia Investigations: The U.S. Launches a Digital Offensive, Gently
From ACM Opinion

The Russia Investigations: The U.S. Launches a Digital Offensive, Gently

Everyone knows how to picture the special operations troopers of, for example, the Army's elite Delta Force: Rough-looking customers with custom carbines and advanced...
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