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Latest News News Archive Refine your search:
dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectInformation Systems
authorThe Washington Post
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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.


Farmworker vs Robot
From ACM News

Farmworker vs Robot

Both human and machine have 10 seconds per plant. They must find the ripe strawberries in the leaves, gently twist them off the stems and tuck them into a plastic...

How Analytics are Making Peace Between Fishermen, Turtles
From ACM TechNews

How Analytics are Making Peace Between Fishermen, Turtles

New predictive analytics technologies are helping researchers protect turtles, albatrosses, whales, and other endangered species from fishermen.

Friendly Nurse or Nightmare-Inducing Machine? How Culture Programs Our Taste in Robots.
From ACM News

Friendly Nurse or Nightmare-Inducing Machine? How Culture Programs Our Taste in Robots.

Slowly and silently, they glide across the floor wearing bright yellow dresses that look as though they were plucked from a haunted 1920s boarding school.

Harvard's Top Astronomer Says an Alien Ship May Be Among ­s, and He Doesn't Care What His Colleagues Think
From ACM News

Harvard's Top Astronomer Says an Alien Ship May Be Among ­s, and He Doesn't Care What His Colleagues Think

Before he started the whole alien spaceship thing last year, the chairman of Harvard University's astronomy department was known for public lectures on modesty....

Giant Food Stores Will Place Robotic Assistants at 172 Locations
From ACM TechNews

Giant Food Stores Will Place Robotic Assistants at 172 Locations

Giant Food Stores will install autonomous assistive robots in 172 stores across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

IBM Announces High-Resolution Global Weather Forecast Model
From ACM TechNews

IBM Announces High-Resolution Global Weather Forecast Model

IBM will roll out a high-resolution weather forecast model this year.

The German Sub Sank 76 Years Ago. Now Its Story Is Being Revealed in Eerie Fluorescent Detail.
From ACM News

The German Sub Sank 76 Years Ago. Now Its Story Is Being Revealed in Eerie Fluorescent Detail.

The U-boat seems to loom out of the blackness, careening to starboard, as if to avoid a collision.

China's Great Wall Is 'Crumbling.' Now Architects Are ­sing Drones to Save It.
From ACM TechNews

China's Great Wall Is 'Crumbling.' Now Architects Are ­sing Drones to Save It.

China is deploying drones to scan portions of the Great Wall reportedly too hazardous to cross, compiling information to support its rehabilitation.

I Fell for Facebook Fake News. Here's Why Millions of You Did, Too.
From ACM Opinion

I Fell for Facebook Fake News. Here's Why Millions of You Did, Too.

The Facebook video is nuts, but I can't tear my eyes away. A plane, struggling in a huge storm, does a 360-degree flip before safely landing and letting out terrified...

Shaken by Hype, Self-Driving Leaders Adopt New Strategy: Shutting ­p
From ACM Careers

Shaken by Hype, Self-Driving Leaders Adopt New Strategy: Shutting ­p

Three former executives at Google, Tesla and Uber who once raced to be the first to develop self-driving cars have adopted a new strategy: Slow down. And shut up...

We’d Be Crippled by a Cyberattack on Our ­tilities
From ACM News

We’d Be Crippled by a Cyberattack on Our ­tilities

It's time we come up with a strategy to defend our nation from potentially crippling cyberattacks that would put states at the forefront of the fight.

This App Knows When You've Been in an Accident—and Then It Calls 911 for You
From ACM TechNews

This App Knows When You've Been in an Accident—and Then It Calls 911 for You

A new mobile application accesses a smartphone's sensors to determine if the phone's owner has been in an auto accident, and can alert 911 emergency services if...

Here's What We Know about Google's Mysterious Search Engine
From ACM News

Here's What We Know about Google's Mysterious Search Engine

President Trump thinks Google's search engine is "rigged." By featuring more mainstream news outlets and relatively fewer conservative sites in the results he sees...

Microsoft Calls for Regulation of Facial Recognition, Saying It's Too Risky to Leave to Tech Industry Alone
From ACM News

Microsoft Calls for Regulation of Facial Recognition, Saying It's Too Risky to Leave to Tech Industry Alone

Microsoft is calling for government regulation on facial-recognition software, one of its key technologies, saying such artificial intelligence is too important...

How Spies Can ­se Your Cellphone to Find You, and Eavesdrop on Your Calls and Texts Too
From ACM News

How Spies Can ­se Your Cellphone to Find You, and Eavesdrop on Your Calls and Texts Too

Surveillance systems that track the locations of cellphone users and spy on their calls, texts and data streams are being turned against Americans as they roam...

The Surprising Return of the Repo Man
From ACM Careers

The Surprising Return of the Repo Man

The computer in the spotter car shouted "Hide!," and repo agent Derek Lewis knew that meant to keep driving like nothing had happened.

A Google Program Can Pass As a Human on the Phone. Should It Be Required to Tell People It's a Machine?
From ACM News

A Google Program Can Pass As a Human on the Phone. Should It Be Required to Tell People It's a Machine?

Google's artificial-intelligence assistant sounds almost exactly like a human when it calls the salon to book a woman's hair appointment.

Pentagon Kicks Off Competition for Multibillion-Dollar Cloud-Computing Contract
From ACM News

Pentagon Kicks Off Competition for Multibillion-Dollar Cloud-Computing Contract

The U.S. Department of Defense needs to upgrade its often-antiquated technology as a matter of urgent national security, and Pentagon leaders insist the program...

These Provocative Images Show Russian Trolls Sought to Inflame Debate Over Climate Change, Fracking and Dakota Pipeline
From ACM News

These Provocative Images Show Russian Trolls Sought to Inflame Debate Over Climate Change, Fracking and Dakota Pipeline

Russian trolls used Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to inflame U.S. political debate over energy policy and climate change, a finding that underscores how the Russian...

Big Brother on Wheels: Why Your Car Company May Know More About You Than Your Spouse. 
From ACM News

Big Brother on Wheels: Why Your Car Company May Know More About You Than Your Spouse. 

Daniel Dunn was about to sign a lease for a Honda Fit last year when a detail buried in the lengthy agreement caught his eye.
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