Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2017
From ACM TechNews
New Smartwatch Application For Accurate Signature Verification Developed
Researchers say they have developed a system that uses smartwatch devices and software to verify handwritten signatures and detect even the most skilled forgeries.
From ACM TechNews
Artificial Fingertip That 'feels' Wins Harvard's Robotics Competition
Researchers from the University of Bristol recently won Harvard University's international Soft Robotics competition for TacTip, an open source three-dimensionally-printed fingertip that can feel in a similar way to the human…
From ACM TechNews
After First Week, AI System Is Beating Human Poker Players
An artificial intelligence system called Libratus has gained the upper hand against human poker players in the first week of a 20-day tournament in Pittsburgh.
From ACM TechNews
DARPA Wants to Simulate How Social Media Spreads Info Like Wildfire
A new program from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency aims to better understand the spread and evolution of information online.
From ACM News
In 2017, China Is Doubling Down on AI
This year, China looks set to make larger waves than ever in artificial intelligence and augmented reality.
From ACM News
Rice Has Role in New $250m Robotics Manufacturing Institute
Rice University will be among 40 academic partners working to create, deploy robotic technology.
From ACM News
Back to the Future: Silicon May Work For Quantum Computing
Although I write a lot about quantum computing, I've not really paid much attention to performing quantum computations with silicon-based qubits. Luckily Stephanie Simmons from Simon Fraser University in Canada helped me catch…
From ACM TechNews
Research Led By Clemson niversity Could Help Revolutionize Transportation
Researchers at Clemson University's new Center for Connected Multimodal Mobility aim to improve the mobility of people and goods and explore how the emerging Internet of Things will apply to travel.
From ACM TechNews
Wearables Could Soon Know You're Sick Before You Do
Consumer wearables, which track simple metrics such as step counts and heart rates, have the potential to provide actionable health data, according to Stanford University researchers.
From ACM TechNews
Cheery Robots May Make Creepy Companions, but Could Be Intelligent Assistants
An international team of researchers has found cheery robots may make users uneasy, while serious robots can reduce anxiety depending on how users perceive the robot's role in their lives.
From ACM News
Prisoner Programmers
One organization hopes teaching inmates to code can help keep them out of prison.
From ACM News
Microsoft Thinks Machines Can Learn to Converse By Making Chat a Game
Microsoft is buying a deep learning startup based in Montreal, a global hub for deep learning research.
From ACM News
Nasa Is Making New Robots That Can Control Themselves
NASA wants humans and robots to work together as teams.
From ACM News
Report: Five Actions States Can Take to Bridge the Computer Science Ed Gap
A new report details five actions U.S. states can take to bridge the computer science education gap and prepare young people for a future engaged in computers and information technology.
From ACM TechNews
4g Network Infrastructure Could Mean Fewer Accidents By Drivers
Researchers at the University of Bristol in the U.K. have found a preexisting 4G network infrastructure could help drivers make safe decisions in or near accidents.
From ACM TechNews
New Fingerprinting Techniques Identify sers Across Different Browsers on the Same Pc
A U.S.-based multi-university research effort has yielded distinct fingerprinting methods to track users when they use different browsers installed on the same device.
From ACM TechNews
Will Blockchain-Based Election Systems Make E-Voting Possible?
Determining whether blockchain technology can accurately count votes and ensure the integrity of an electronic voting system was the purpose of a competition among university teams held by Kaspersky Lab.
From ACM TechNews
Seeing the Quantum Future...literally
Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia have utilized big data methods to predict how quantum systems will change and then preventively suppress decoherence.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Propose a Novel Regional Path Tracking Scheme For Autonomous Ground Vehicles
Researchers at Jilin University in China have proposed a model predictive control algorithm that could track a complex road by monitoring the desired lateral position of the road centerline of autonomous ground vehicles.
From ACM TechNews
sing Mathematics to Hunt For Computer Errors
The Austrian Science Fund FWF is funding the development of methods to apply mathematical analysis to enhancing software and hardware security.
From ACM News
Mars Rover Curiosity Examines Possible Mud Cracks
Scientists used NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in recent weeks to examine slabs of rock cross-hatched with shallow ridges that likely originated as cracks in drying mud.
From ACM News
Hans Berliner, Master Chess Player and Programmer, Dies at 87
A former world champion of correspondence chess who later helped develop game-playing computers, Hans Berliner died on Friday in Riviera Beach, FL, at the age of 87.
From ACM News
Darpa's Off-Roaders Ditch Windows For a Digital World View
Autonomous warriors may dominate the battlefield of tomorrow, but even those that still require human flesh will take on a robotic sheen. That shift could start with the end of windows.
From ACM News
Who's Winning the Cyber War? The Squirrels, of Course
From ACM News
Computer Models Help Fight Climate Change
Salt marsh modeling holds the potential to protect coastal locations from rising sea levels.
From ACM News
Hinton to Receive Bbva Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award
Artificial intelligence researcher Geoffrey Hinton is being honored “for his pioneering and highly influential work” to endow machines with the ability to learn.
From ACM TechNews
Teaching Computers to Recognize Sick Guts: Machine-Learning and the Microbiome
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have harnessed machine-learning techniques to classify proteins found in healthy and unhealthy gut microbiomes.
From ACM TechNews
New Technology Enables 5-Dimensional Imaging in Live Animals and Humans
University of Southern California researchers have developed an image-analysis technique that makes finding important biological molecules and learning how they interact in living organisms faster and less expensive.
From ACM TechNews
11 Predictions For the Future of Programming
Among the expected trends for computer programming in 2017 and beyond is the cloud overtaking Moore's Law, which will require coders to find algorithms that can more flexibly allocate computing power to tasks.
From ACM News
Give Robots 'personhood' Status, Eu Committee Argues
The European parliament has urged the drafting of a set of regulations to govern the use and creation of robots and artificial intelligence, including a form of "electronic personhood" to ensure rights and responsibilities for…