Computing

Computing

Check on Checkers: In perfect game, there’s no winner

Thanks to an immense calculation that worked out every possible game position, computers can now play a flawless game of checkers and force a draw every time.

Computing

Mapping a Medusa: The Internet spreads its tentacles

After tracking how digital information weaves around the world, researchers have concluded that, structurally speaking, the Internet looks like a medusa jellyfish.

Computing

Lost in transportation

A new algorithm might make online driving directions more accurate.

Computing

Computer, Name That Tune!

Computers can analyze music mathematically and use the result to track down songs, without even knowing the composer, performer, or title.

Computing

The Machine’s Got Rhythm

By teaching computers how to transcribe musical recordings, a relatively mundane task, researchers are opening new musical possibilities.

Computing

Games Theory

Online games can not only entertain but also provide valuable data for researchers tackling computer-vision and other tough computational problems.

Computing

Digital Fingerprints

New methods to identify Internet users by their behavior can uncover criminals online, but these techniques may also track millions of innocent users.

Computing

What a Flake

New ways to simulate ice-crystal growth yield patterns remarkably similar to the beautiful and intricate shapes of snowflakes and may shed light on how those real-life shapes come about.

Computing

Hairy Calculations: Picturing tresses in a truer light

Hard-to-simulate blond hair may look more natural in future animations thanks to a new computer model that allows for hairs' transparency and includes the illumination produced by light propagating from hair to hair.

Computing

The Risky Business of Spreadsheet Errors

Faulty spreadsheets and poor software practices can put businesses at risk.

Computing

Network Inoculation: Antivirus shield would outrace cyber infections

As a new way to protect a computer network from viruses, an epidemic of antiviral protection could theoretically propagate faster through the network than the virus itself, thanks to a novel topological twist.

Computing

Untangling a Web: The Internet gets a new look

A new mathematical model of the Internet shows that it may not be as vulnerable to centralized attacks as previous research suggested.