Computing
The FDA Should Better Regulate Medical Algorithms
Most do not require the agency’s approval, and those that do often don’t require clinical trials
Computing2296 articles archived since 1845
Computing
An Unsung Female Pioneer of Computer Simulation
A mid-20th-century computer experiment created a new field of science—and programmer Mary Tsingou Menzel is finally being given credit for her role in making it happen
Privacy
New Encryption Technique Better Protects Photographs in the Cloud
Users can display images as usual, but neither attackers nor tech platforms can see them
Memory
Digital Heads Help Eyewitnesses Identify Suspects
Witnesses were more accurate when they interacted with 3-D models than when they looked at still photographs. And the models were less expensive than an in-person lineup
Artificial Intelligence
The Computer Scientist Training AI to Think with Analogies
Melanie Mitchell says digital minds will never truly be like ours until they can make analogies
Computing
The Question Medical AI Can’t Answer
It’s unable to tell us why it came to a particular decision—and that’s crucial information
Computing
AI Creates False Documents That Fake Out Hackers
The algorithm hides sensitive information in a sea of decoys
Computing
How Olympic Tracking Systems Capture Athletic Performances
The 3-D tracking systems used in Tokyo may one day enable digital twins of athletes
Engineering
Soft Robot Hand Is First to Be Fully 3-D-Printed in a Single Step
Then it played Super Mario Bros.
Computing
How Does a Quantum Computer Work?
If you understand how these systems operate, then you understand why they could change everything.
Particle Physics
See the Highest-Resolution Atomic Image Ever Captured
Scientists achieved a record level of visual detail with an imaging technique that could help develop future electronics and better batteries
Technology
The First ‘Google Translate’ for Elephants Debuts
An online animal catalogue lets you decode communications and other behaviors for everyone’s favorite pachyderm
Computing
The U.S. Needs a National Strategic Computing Reserve
One year after supercomputers worked together to fight COVID, it’s time to broaden the partnership to prepare for other crises
Computing
DNA: The Ultimate Data-Storage Solution
The double helix can archive a staggering amount of information in an almost inconceivably small volume
Engineering
Hacker Attack on Essential Pipeline Shows Infrastructure Weaknesses
Ransomware is steadily hitting harder. Could banks or subway systems be next?
Computing
Artificial Intelligence Develops an Ear for Birdsong
Machine-learning algorithms can quickly process thousands of hours of natural soundscapes
Computing
Algorithm Virtually Unfolds a Historical Letter without Unsealing It
In the centuries before envelopes, “letterlocking” secured a message’s information
Space & Physics
Quantum Network Is Step Toward Ultrasecure Internet
The experiment connects three devices with entangled photons, demonstrating a key technique that could enable a future quantum Internet
Computing
An IBM AI Debates Humans—but It’s Not Yet the Deep Blue of Oratory
The give-and-take of formal arguments is still outside of a machine’s “comfort zone”—at least for now
Computing
AI Can Now Debate with Humans and Sometimes Convince Them, Too
Today on the Science Talk podcast, Noam Slonim of IBM Research speaks to Scientific American about an impressive feat of computer engineering: an AI-powered autonomous system that can engage in complex debate with humans over issues ranging from subsidizing preschool and the merit of space exploration to the pros and cons of genetic engineering. In a new Nature paper, Slonim and his colleagues show that across 80 debate topics, Project Debater’s computational argument technology has performed very decently—with a human audience being the judge of that...
