Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2016
From ACM TechNews
The Seesaw of Supply and Demand
Singapore Management University professor Pradeep Varakantham dynamically and continuously matches supply with demand to tackle complex urban challenges.
From ACM News
Shrouding Oneself in Secrecy
Identity cloaking tools, developed to protect the privacy of Internet users, are being used to skirt cybersecurity and international law.
From ACM TechNews
Oscar-Winning Animator and Filmmaker Chris Landreth at of T Computer Science
Award-winning animator and filmmaker Chris Landreth serves as distinguished research artist-in-residence at the University of Toronto's computer science department.
From ACM TechNews
Byu Researchers Improve Genome Assembly, Stumble Upon Signatures For Genetic Disorders
Brigham Young University researchers have developed an algorithm that is more sensitive to detecting specific types of variations in DNA sequences.
From ACM News
The Convenience-Surveillance Tradeoff
People love free stuff. That's the principle that helps explain the complicated series of privacy-related calculations that modern life increasingly requires.
From ACM News
The Bbva Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award Goes to Stephen Cook
Cook expanded on Turing's concept of computability ... to include efficiency, so we can ascertain which problems are worth trying to solve and which not.
From ACM News
Bitter Fight Over Crispr Patent Heats Up
A versatile technique for editing genomes has been called the biggest biotechnology advancesince the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is set to determine who will reap the rewards…
From ACM News
The President Wants Every Student to Learn Computer Science. How Would That Work?
President Obama used his final State of the Union address Tuesday night to reflect on his legacy. But he also put forth some specific proposals for his remaining year in office. And the very first one was "helping students learn…
From ACM News
New Details on Ceres Seen in Dawn Images
Features on dwarf planet Ceres that piqued the interest of scientists throughout 2015 stand out in exquisite detail in the latest images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which recently reached its lowest-ever altitude at Ceres.
From ACM TechNews
w Computer Scientists to Make Financial Products Better and More Available For the Poor
University of Washington computer scientists and engineers plan to develop, test, and deploy technologies to make financial applications more available to the poor.
From ACM TechNews
Can Computer Games Improve the Ability to Study?
University of Bristol researchers conducted a brain-imaging study showing technological game-playing can involve brain activity that supports learning.
From ACM TechNews
In Pursuit of an Affordable Tablet For the Blind
University of Michigan researchers have developed an inexpensive, full-page braille tablet.
From ACM TechNews
.s. STEM Funding Still Reeling From Budget Cuts
Some U.S. agencies and higher education institutions that lost much-needed federal grants to sequestration may still be left wanting.
From ACM TechNews
Google Opens p About When Its Self-Driving Cars Have Nearly Crashed
Google says its fleet of automated vehicles, currently undergoing testing, have had 13 near-misses in which a driver had to intervene to prevent a collision.
From ACM News
In Pursuit of an Affordable Tablet For the Blind
An inexpensive, full-page braille tablet could make topics like science and math more easily accessible to the blind, according to a team of researchers who have built a prototype device.
From ACM TechNews
Linux Foundation Moves Dronecode Project Forward
The open source Dronecode effort, a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project launched in October 2014, has grown from only a handful of members to 51.
From ACM News
An Easy Way For Hackers to Remotely Burn Industrial Motors
Hacks that cause physical destruction are so rare they can be counted on one hand.
From ACM News
Prediction Machines Will See the Future For Hedge Funds, CIA
Every time a new year rolls in, lots of people make predictions. Most will either be obvious (Apple will put out some new products) or wrong (still waiting for Apple to buy Tesla).
From ACM News
Philae Lander Fails to Respond to Last-Ditch Efforts to Wake It
Farewell, Philae. The space lander that touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (and in our hearts) in November 2014 has not responded to a last-ditch attempt to wake it, and it now looks almost certain that the lander…
From ACM TechNews
Leading Through Impact
Harvard University's Office of Technology Development helped researchers launch a machine-learning startup that wound up being acquired by Twitter.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Find Two Flaws in Oauth 2.0
Researchers have discovered vulnerabilities in the OAuth 2.0 authentication protocol that could enable hackers to subvert single sign-on systems.
From ACM TechNews
New Tech to Help Companies Detect and Respond to Cloud Computing Performance Bugs
A startup aims to help organizations that use cloud computing improve their customers' user experience.
From ACM News
Anomaly Detectors Catch Zero-Day Hackers
Faster than signature scanners, detectors spot anomalies before malware can be identified.
From ACM Opinion
2015 Was the Best Year Ever in Space
With 2015 now behind us, what truly stands out?
From ACM News
The New Way Police Are Surveilling You: Calculating Your Threat 'score'
While officers raced to a recent 911 call about a man threatening his ex-girlfriend, a police operator in headquarters consulted software that scored the suspect's potential for violence the way a bank might run a credit report…
From ACM News
Insurers Brace For the Self-Driving Future and Fewer Accidents
As autonomous driving technology advances, perhaps the most notable benefit is the promise of a striking reduction in accidents.
From ACM TechNews
Robotic Glove Invented By Nus Researchers Helps Patients Restore Hand Movements
National University of Singapore researchers have developed the EsoGlove, a rehabilitation device equipped with sensors to detect muscle signals.
From ACM TechNews
AI Algorithm Identifies Humorous Pictures
Researchers report training a machine-learning algorithm to recognize and generate humorous scenes.
From ACM TechNews
Drone Swarms Will Change the Face of Modern Warfare
Swarms of inexpensive, expendable U.S. Navy robots will leave the laboratory this summer to be tested in the field.
From ACM TechNews
New Digital Tools Could Help Speed Up Cultural Heritage Work
The European Union-funded PRESIOUS project is developing software tools intended to facilitate the work of archaeologists via computer simulations.