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ACM Media Center

Ricardo Baeza-Yates is the recipient of the 2025 ACM Luiz André Barroso Award, in recognition of his contributions to algorithms and information retrieval as well as his efforts in fostering a transnational research community in Latin America. Baeza-Yates produced influential algorithms for string searching and fuzzy matching, including the well-known Shift-Or algorithm. He also co-founded two of Latin America’s most influential research conferences—the String Processing and Information Retrieval Symposium (now an international meeting) and the Alberto Mendelzon Workshop, dedicated to databases and Web research.

From "2025 ACM Luiz André Barroso Award Goes to Ricardo Baeza-Yates"
ACM Media Center (04/15/26)
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Reuters

Lawmakers in Maine passed a bill that could make the state the first in the U.S. to impose a moratorium on large new datacenters. The bill, which still needs final approval from the governor, would freeze approvals for datacenters requiring more than 20 megawatts of power until October 2027, while a state-appointed council analyzes their impact on the local grid, electricity bills, and air and water quality. Eleven states are considering similar legislation.

From "Maine Legislature Approves First U.S. Moratorium on Big Datacenters"
Reuters (04/14/26) Valerie Volcovici; Aditya Soni
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Politico Europe

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country's forces captured a Russian position using only unmanned systems, marking a first in warfare. Ground robots and drones carried out the assault without infantry involvement, forcing Russian troops to surrender and resulting in no Ukrainian casualties. Zelenskyy noted that in the first three months of 2026, ground robotic systems conducted over 22,000 missions. "This is about high technology protecting the highest value—human life,” he said.

From "Robots Captured Russian Army Positions, Zelenskyy Says"
Politico Europe (04/14/26) Veronika Melkozerova
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South China Morning Post

China launched the "AI+ Education” action plan to future-proof its workforce. Unveiled by the country’s Ministry of Education and four other ministerial-level bodies, the plan calls for the integration of AI at every stage of learning. Schools will be required to offer courses that nurture curiosity and problem-solving skills. Universities will create AI foundation courses to encourage cross-disciplinary innovation, and vocational and lifelong learning programs will incorporate the “intelligent transformation” of traditional roles. Teacher training will include AI literacy.

From "China Launches National Plan to Boost AI Education"
South China Morning Post (04/13/26) Carol Yangin
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Techzine Global

Version 7.0 of the Linux kernel has been released with official support for the Rust programming language. This comes as Rust’s broader popularity may be stabilizing, according to Paul Jansen, CEO of the TIOBE Index. Rust had reached 13th place earlier this year in the TIOBE ranking of programming language popularity, but slipped to 16th place in April's index. Jansen suggested the language's difficulty for beginners as the reason for the decline.

From "Rust Enters the Linux Kernel, as Adoption Levels Off"
Techzine Global (04/13/26) Erik van Klinken
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CBS News

In a first, surgeons in Colorado successfully implanted a brain-computer interface (BCI) in higher-level regions of a paralyzed patient's brain cortex, in the hope it will allow more natural motor and sensory control. Testing is now allowing the researchers to learn what responses in the patient's brain can be tied to actions such as directing machines. Three ports the surgeons installed on top of the patient’s head can be connected to computers to communicate with them.

From "Surgery in Colorado is First to Implant BCI in Higher Levels of the Brain"
CBS News (04/13/26) Alan Gionet
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