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Author Richard K. Morgan Wants to Destroy Your Mars Fantasies
From ACM Opinion

Author Richard K. Morgan Wants to Destroy Your Mars Fantasies

Richard K. Morgan has spent most of the past decade working on his fantasy trilogy A Land Fit For Heroes.

Prepping for a Flood of Heavenly Bodies
From ACM Opinion

Prepping for a Flood of Heavenly Bodies

This is a story of getting the good out of the bad, said Mario Jurić.

My Thoughts Are My Password, Because My Brain Reactions Are ­nique
From ACM Opinion

My Thoughts Are My Password, Because My Brain Reactions Are ­nique

Your brain is an inexhaustible source of secure passwords—but you might not have to remember anything. Passwords and PINs with letters and numbers are relatively...

'This Is How Donald Trump Stays President for Four More Years'
From ACM Opinion

'This Is How Donald Trump Stays President for Four More Years'

Donald Trump often claims Facebook and Google are "rigged" to favor the political left. Now he's building a 2020 campaign infrastructure that can circumvent them...

Paper and the Case for Going Low-Tech in the Voting Booth
From ACM Opinion

Paper and the Case for Going Low-Tech in the Voting Booth

In September 2017, barely two months before Virginians went to the polls to pick a new governor, the state's board of elections convened an emergency session. The...

Brain Implants: Will They Be ­sed to Heal or for Control?
From ACM Opinion

Brain Implants: Will They Be ­sed to Heal or for Control?

Would you trust a Manchurian Candidate or a Terminator to heal you? Shouldn't you automatically distrust anyone who has received a brain implant by the military...

A Q&A With Micron Technology's Memory Mastermind
From ACM Opinion

A Q&A With Micron Technology's Memory Mastermind

For over 50 years, the exponential shrinking of circuit components on chips predicted by Gordon Moore has allowed all sorts of modern wonders, from personal computers...

Why the Search for Aliens Could ­nite ­s Here on Earth
From ACM Opinion

Why the Search for Aliens Could ­nite ­s Here on Earth

If aliens are trying to talk to us (or even if they are not), Jill Tarter will be the one to find them.

Blockchains Won't Fix Internet Voting Security, and Could Make It Worse
From ACM Opinion

Blockchains Won't Fix Internet Voting Security, and Could Make It Worse

Looking to modernize voting practices, speed waiting times at the polls, increase voter turnout and generally make voting more convenient, many government officials—and...

Evolution Is at Work in Computers as well as Life Sciences
From ACM Opinion

Evolution Is at Work in Computers as well as Life Sciences

Artificial intelligence research has a lot to learn from nature.

You're Expecting Too Much Out of Boston Dynamics' Robots
From ACM Opinion

You're Expecting Too Much Out of Boston Dynamics' Robots

At the WIRED25 festival in San Francisco Sunday evening, Boston Dynamics' SpotMini robot got onstage and did what no other quadruped robot has done before: It danced...

Jeff Hawkins Is Finally Ready to Explain His Brain Research
From ACM Opinion

Jeff Hawkins Is Finally Ready to Explain His Brain Research


A Future Where Everything Becomes a Computer Is as Creepy as You Feared
From ACM Opinion

A Future Where Everything Becomes a Computer Is as Creepy as You Feared

More than 40 years ago, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft with a vision for putting a personal computer on every desk.

How Do You Find an Alien Ocean? Margaret Kivelson Figured It Out
From ACM Opinion

How Do You Find an Alien Ocean? Margaret Kivelson Figured It Out

The data was like nothing Margaret Kivelson and her team of physicists ever expected.

How Sci-Fi Like WarGames Led to Real Policy During the Reagan Administration
From ACM Opinion

How Sci-Fi Like WarGames Led to Real Policy During the Reagan Administration

This year, John Badham's WarGames—one of the movies most beloved by hackers, techies, and tech policy wonks (like me!)—celebrates its 35th anniversary.

Why Do Computers ­se So Much Energy?
From ACM Opinion

Why Do Computers ­se So Much Energy?

Microsoft is currently running an interesting set of hardware experiments.

This Tech Would Have Spotted the Secret Chinese Chip in Seconds
From ACM Opinion

This Tech Would Have Spotted the Secret Chinese Chip in Seconds

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, spies in China managed to insert chips into computer systems that would allow external control of those systems.

Behind the Scenes of Japan's Daring Asteroid Mission
From ACM Opinion

Behind the Scenes of Japan's Daring Asteroid Mission

As Japan lands a third probe on Ryugu asteroid, Nature looks at the Hayabusa2 mission in more detail.

Will L.A.'s Anti-Terrorist Subway Scanners Be Adopted Everywhere?
From ACM Opinion

Will L.A.'s Anti-Terrorist Subway Scanners Be Adopted Everywhere?

In mid-August the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Transportation Security Administration announced Metro has paid $100,000 each...

When Reporting on Defcon, Avoid Stereotypes and A.T.M.s
From ACM Opinion

When Reporting on Defcon, Avoid Stereotypes and A.T.M.s

As one of The New York Times's three Surfacing residents, I've grown accustomed to entering unfamiliar places.
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