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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectPerformance And Reliability
authorNew Scientist
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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.


Poll Consensus on Million-Dollar Logic Problem
From ACM TechNews

Poll Consensus on Million-Dollar Logic Problem

University of Maryland, College Park computer scientist William Gasarch has re-run his poll on the biggest problem in computer science.

Seven Equations That Rule Your World
From ACM News

Seven Equations That Rule Your World

The alarm rings. You glance at the clock. The time is 6.30 am. You haven't even got out of bed, and already at least six mathematical equations have influenced...

Nash's Beautiful Mind Pre-Empted Million-Dollar Puzzle
From ACM News

Nash's Beautiful Mind Pre-Empted Million-Dollar Puzzle

John Nash's mind is even more exquisite than we thought. The Nobel laureate, famous for both his work in game theory and his schizophrenia—as portrayed in the book...

From ACM News

Slow Graphene Down, Speed Computers Up

Astonishing conductivity helped the discoverers of graphene win the Nobel prize in physicsin 2010. Now a way to switch off the easy flow of electrons in this wonder...

Phase-Change Materials Can Fix Machine Memory Crunch
From ACM TechNews

Phase-Change Materials Can Fix Machine Memory Crunch

Phase-change materials (PCMs) could thwart the limits of digital memory and enable a massive increase in storage density. PCM's biggest advantage is that it can...

From ACM News

Light Is Not Fast Enough For High-Speed Stock Trading

Every microsecond counts in stock trading. The New York Stock Exchange handles a third of the world's stock trading—around 22 billion messages a day. But NYSE Euronext...

From ACM News

Light Is Not Fast Enough For High-Speed Stock Trading

Every microsecond counts in stock trading. The New York Stock Exchange handles a third of the world's stock trading—around 22 billion messages a day. But NYSE...

Intel Anthropologist: Fieldwork with the Silicon Tribe
From ACM News

Intel Anthropologist: Fieldwork with the Silicon Tribe

Anthropologist Genevieve Bell gives the chip maker insight into how people experience new technologies.

Bye-Bye Electrons? Circuit Made From Flowing Atoms
From ACM TechNews

Bye-Bye Electrons? Circuit Made From Flowing Atoms

Kevin Wright and colleagues at NIST chilled 100,000 sodium atoms then used lasers to shape the blob of atoms into a torus and give it enough energy to circulate...

Metamorphosis Key to Creating Stable Walking Robots
From ACM TechNews

Metamorphosis Key to Creating Stable Walking Robots

A study to find the quickest way to evolve walking behaviors in virtual robots was conducted by University of Vermont researcher Josh Bongard. He ran simulations...

From ACM TechNews

Ice and a Slice Makes Transistors More Precise

Transistors can be built more precisely by using ice as a mask, according to researchers at Harvard University. The ice lithography process resembles how computer...

Robot Arm Punches Human to Obey Asimov's Rules
From ACM News

Robot Arm Punches Human to Obey Asimov's Rules

Isaac Asimov would probably have been horrified at the experiments under way in a robotics lab in Slovenia. There, a powerful robot has been hitting people over...

Shape-Shifting Robot Compensates For Damaged Limb
From ACM TechNews

Shape-Shifting Robot Compensates For Damaged Limb

European roboticists have developed software that enables a modular robot to adapt when one part stops working. 

Wonder Conductors Will Spin ­p Cooler Computers
From ACM News

Wonder Conductors Will Spin ­p Cooler Computers

Newly discovered materials called topological insulators could clear the way for blisteringly fast laptops and smartphones that don't warm your lap or singe your...

Lizard-Like Robot Can 'swim' Through Sand
From ACM TechNews

Lizard-Like Robot Can 'swim' Through Sand

Inspired by the sandfish lizard, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are collaborating with Northwestern University's Paul Umbanhowar to develop...

Clouds Add Depth to Computer Landscapes
From ACM TechNews

Clouds Add Depth to Computer Landscapes

Nathan Jacobs and colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis have used a single camera to create a depth map, which records the geography of a three-dimensional...

Crumbling Labs Could Clip Nasa's Wings
From ACM News

Crumbling Labs Could Clip Nasa's Wings

Years of neglect have left many NASA labs that might be used for breakthrough technology research in rough shape, says a report from the U.S. National Academies...

Is Water the Key to Cheaper Nanoelectronics?
From ACM TechNews

Is Water the Key to Cheaper Nanoelectronics?

Researchers have developed a way to use water to transfer layers from one surface to another by exploiting the fact that different materials have different hydrophilicity...

Diamond Chips to Make Meaner, Greener Electronics
From ACM TechNews

Diamond Chips to Make Meaner, Greener Electronics

Researchers at Japan's AIST have developed synthetic diamonds that could be used to make microchips capable of processing high-powered signals without requiring...

Human Arm Transmits Broadband
From ACM TechNews

Human Arm Transmits Broadband

Korea University researchers have developed a method for transmitting data at a rate of 10 megabits per second through a person's arm, between two electrodes on...
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