Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2015
From ACM News
Nasa's New Horizons Spacecraft Zooms in on Pluto
Pluto, get ready for your closeup.
From ACM News
Hunt For Philae Hangs in the Balance
Scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) are debating whether to change part of the Rosetta mission in what would probably be the last attempt to find lost comet-lander Philae—but the shift would mean sacrificing long-planned…
From ACM News
Back-p Brains: The Era of Digital Immortality
A few months before she died, my grandmother made a decision.
From ACM TechNews
Symposium to Focus on Future of Voting Systems
A symposium on emerging trends in voting has been scheduled for Feb. 9-10 in Washington, D.C.
From ACM TechNews
Profitable Phishing Schemes Slyly Tinker With Our Heads, Then Rip S Off
The use of information-rich phishing scams can alter recipients' cognitive processes, making them more likely to fall victim to the emails, according to a new study.
From ACM TechNews
3D Transistors Made With Molecular Self-Assembly
IBM researchers have developed a new way to rapidly manufacture three-dimensional transistors.
From ACM TechNews
Verizon's Mobile 'supercookies' Seen as Threat to Privacy
Long-standing concerns about the "supercookies" Verizon Wireless uses to tag its users for advertising purposes have resurfaced.
From ACM TechNews
bc's Robotic Sailboat Attempts to Cross Atlantic Alone
University of British Columbia students will launch a robotic sailboat this summer, hoping it will be the first sailbot to complete a transatlantic race.
From ACM Opinion
Andreessen Horowitz Reveals the 16 Trends It's Closely Watching
It's hard to predict what startups Andreessen Horowitz wants to get behind.
From ACM News
America's Best-Selling Cars and Trucks Are Built on Lies: The Rise of Fake Engine Noise
Stomp on the gas in a new Ford Mustang or F-150 and you’ll hear a meaty, throaty rumble—the same style of roar that Americans have associated with auto power and performance for decades.
From ACM News
The Car Windshield Is Turning Into a Computer Screen
Cars are running out of screens.
From ACM Opinion
A Graphene Discoverer Speculates on the Future of Computing
In 2010 two physicists at Manchester University in the U.K. shared a Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on a new wonder material: graphene, a flat sheet of carbon just one atom thick.
From ACM News
Hilltop Panorama Marks Mars Rover's 11th Anniversary
A panorama from one of the highest elevations that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached in its 11 years on Mars includes the U.S. flag at the summit.
From ACM News
Rosetta Finds Out Much About a Comet, Even With a Wayward Lander
Photographs and data from the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft have provided an unprecedented close-up examination of a comet, but there is one thing that has not shown up yet: the small lander that bounded to the surface…
From ACM TechNews
Malware Could Steal Data From Iphones sing Siri
A security vulnerability in the iPhone 5 series of smartphone could be exploited by malicious software and compromise a user's personal information via Siri.
From ACM TechNews
This Robot Has the Mind of a Worm
A research project dubbed Open Worm seeks to develop artificial intelligence technology by focusing on worm intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
Fujitsu Psychology Tool Profiles sers for Risk of Cyberattacks
Fujitsu researchers are integrating psychology into profiling software to make computer security more personalized.
From ACM TechNews
Optimizing Optimization Algorithms
Researchers have presented a way to generate a sequence of simplified functions that ensure the best approximation optimization algorithms can offer.
From ACM TechNews
Atlas nplugged: DARPA Challenge Robot Gets Major Makeover
Boston Robotics has rebuilt its robot to be used in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Robotics Challenge finals in June.
From ACM Careers
Google Lunar Xprize: Testing Rovers on the Beach with Team Hakuto
Before you blast off to the moon in search of $30 million offered as part of the Google Lunar XPrize—or the juicy $20 million grand prize for being the first to get to the moon—you must make sure all your systems are ready for…
From ACM News
Nasa, Microsoft Collaboration Will Allow Scientists to 'work on Mars'
NASA and Microsoft have teamed up to develop software called OnSight, a new technology that will enable scientists to work virtually on Mars using wearable technology called Microsoft HoloLens.
From ACM Opinion
How the Home Telephone Sparked the ser-Centered Design Revolution
Have you ever thought about why doorknobs are positioned at around two-fifths of the door's height, instead of right in the middle? Or why a washing machine is of its particular shape and size?
From ACM News
Looking and Learning: Image Identification and Enhanced Search
Advances in computer image recognition aspire to provide "a reasonable description in plain English."
From ACM News
Even Elusive Animals Leave Dna, and Clues, Behind
You wouldn't think hellbenders would be hard to find: The gargantuan salamanders, the biggest amphibians in North America, can grow up to 30 inches long.
From ACM TechNews
Feds Creating Facial Recognition App to Track College Classroom Attendance
A new facial recognition app will make checking attendance faster and easier for college professors.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft Cracks Personalization Without Prying
A new algorithm developed by Microsoft researchers can eliminate user tracking in Web searches without the overheads of existing technology.
From ACM TechNews
Taking Steps to Power Wearable Tech
Next-generation wearable electronics could be powered by a device in footwear.
From ACM TechNews
Lincoln Laboratory Hosts First 'make Your Own Wearables' Workshop For High-School Girls
Mechanical engineer Kristen Railey, founder of Girls Who Build, recently hosted a pilot workshop for high school girls at a federally funded research and development center.
From ACM News
Telescope to Seek Dust Where Other Earths May Lie
The NASA-funded Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer, or LBTI, has completed its first study of dust in the "habitable zone" around a star, opening a new door to finding planets like Earth.
From ACM News
Time to Change Global Clock Management? It's nder Debate
Does anybody really know what time it is?