Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2011
From ACM News
Israel Tests on Worm Called Crucial in Iran Nuclear Delay
The Dimona complex in the Negev desert is famous as the heavily guarded heart of Israel’s never-acknowledged nuclear arms program, where neat rows of factories make atomic fuel for the arsenal.
From ACM News
Wolfram Education Apps Raise Teaching Dilemma
Wolfram Research, a software company with deep mathematical and scientific expertise, is expanding to the broad education market with a range of mobile apps.
From ACM News
Seeking the World's Best Postdocs
Society in Science, the unique worldwide fellowship for outstanding postdoctoral researchers, is using video, print, and online advertising to spread the word about the Branco Weiss Fellowship.
From ACM News
Google's Artificial Intelligence Translates Poetry
Researchers at Google are tackling what they call one of the most difficult challenges in artificial intelligence.
From ACM News
Eight Jfk News Conferences Now Available Online in Digital Format
Using audio tapes preserved by the University of North Dakota, eight John F. Kennedy news conferences from the early '60s have been digitized and placed online. These recordings, previously unavailable in digital format, will…
From ACM News
Solid-State Memories Pave the Way to Practical Quantum Communication
Two groups of physicists have managed to shift the quantum entanglement between two photons onto an entangled state between one photon and a quantum memor.
From ACM TechNews
10 New Open Source Projects to Watch
Black Duck Software recently announced its 2010 open-source Rookies of the Year list. It says the top open source project is Diaspora, a social network that began its testing phase in November.
From ACM TechNews
Ut Professor Leads World Effort in Developing Next Generation of Supercomputers
University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Jack Dongarra says that exascale supercomputers are needed to solve problems in the economy, engineering, and manufacturing. Today's fastest systems are petascale computers. Exascale computing…
From ACM TechNews
International Cybersecurity Treaty Might Not Be Achievable, Report Says
An international pact to establish cybersecurity regulations may be unworkable, according to an EastWest Institute report. "Many states are not ready for [a global treaty]—and perhaps never will be," the report says.
From ACM TechNews
Coiled Nanowires May Hold Key to Stretchable Electronics
North Carolina State University researchers have created coils of silicon nanowire on a substrate that can be stretched to more than twice their size, a development that could lead to stretchable electronic devices.
From ACM TechNews
Project Euclid's Mathjax Displays 'beautiful Math' Online
Project Euclid, an online information community for mathematicians, has implemented MathJax, new technology that presents math attractively and reliably on the Web.
From ACM TechNews
Amassing a Small Army Against a Growing Enemy
Boston University researchers have developed software aimed at identifying unwanted Internet traffic, which would enable network providers to stop botnets from ever reaching personal computers.
From ACM News
Will You Tweet This?
New analysis could help predict how stories will be shared.
From ACM News
'Money Sucking' Phones in China Spur Government Action
The Chinese government is taking steps to stop mobile phone makers from installing malware on devices which triggers fee-based services without a user's knowledge.
From ACM News
How High-Frequency Trading Is Changing Wall Street
On May 6, 2010, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped hundreds of points in a matter of minutes—and then recovered moments later.
From ACM News
Groundbreaking Edsac Computer to Be Recreated at Bletchley Park
The Computer Conservation Society has commissioned a working replica of the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), the U.K.'s first fully operational stored-program computer, at The National Museum of Computing…
From ACM News
IBM's Jeopardy Supercomputer Beats Humans in Practice Bout
Walking into IBM's Yorktown Heights Research Center feels like entering a time capsule. The rock-covered walls and mod white chairs are super-'70s, and the wall clocks look like they belong in an old elementary school next to…
From ACM News
Wikipedia Is Turning 10, and Founder Jimmy Wales Has Big Plans
For a very long while, knowledge was privileged and so were books, and only privileged people had access to either. Then came printing presses and libraries, and in this printed age, knowledge was both more accessible and…
From ACM TechNews
Learning While Driving
Truck drivers will be able to receive occupational training tailored to their specific needs while on the road via devices such as a tablet computer or laptop using a system developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute…
From ACM TechNews
Online Game Teaches Citation Skills
A new online game turns collecting citations into a competitive event for students. BiblioBouts enables students to judge the relevance and credibility of sources found by their classmates, and to gain points for accurately…
From ACM TechNews
Senate to Try Again on Controversial Antipiracy Bill
The U.S. Senate judiciary committee will renew its effort to pass the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act this spring, which would give the government broad antipiracy powers. It passed the committee in September…
From ACM News
Dazzling Dual-Core Phones and Tablets
New processors are a big improvement, but it will take time for apps to take advantage.
From ACM News
DARPA Wants a New Language to Explain Everything
Darpa has a well-earned rep for some of the most ambitious, over-the-top research programs of all time. But this might be the most over-the-toppest of all. The very first step? Create a unified mathematical language for everything…
From ACM TechNews
Intel Says Light Peak Interconnect Technology Is Ready
Intel's high-speed Light Peak interconnect technology, which links PCs to displays and external storage devices, is ready for implementation, says Intel's David Perlmutter. He declined to say whether it would replace USB and…
From ACM TechNews
Dirac Testbed Reveals How Applications Are Written
Graphics processing units (GPUs) are increasingly being used in high-performance computing, but there is a question of whether GPUs offer an effective solution for a broad scientific workload or for a more limited class of computations…
From ACM TechNews
Virtual Students Are Used to Train Teachers
University researchers have developed teaching simulation programs aimed at helping student teachers be better prepared when they first enter a classroom.
From ACM News
Nsa's Home Base May Have Crappiest Web Site Ever
Through the gates of Fort George Meade pass the most powerful technical minds that the government employs. But Fort Meade's website contains pixelized, faux-shaded green fonts and a two-column descending-text template not seen…
From ACM TechNews
Cockroach Inspires Robotic Hand to Get a Grip
Harvard University researcher Robert D. Howe and Yale University professor Aaron Dollar have developed a robotic hand, based on the legs of a cockroach, that is better than previous models at gripping a variety of objects.
From ACM TechNews
Now, You Can Control Computer Commands By Thought
OpenViBE, a software platform that will enable users to communicate via their thoughts with a computer or any other automated system, has been demonstrated by French computer scientists.
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 on different types of robots as they tried to reach a g0al and…