Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2013
From ACM News
Last Command Sent to Planck Space Telescope
The Planck space telescope has been turned off after spending nearly 4.5 years soaking up the relic radiation from the Big Bang and studying the evolution of stars and galaxies throughout the history of the universe.
From ACM News
Court Rules Probable-Cause Warrant Required For Gps Trackers
An appellate court has finally supplied an answer to an open question left dangling by the Supreme Court in 2012: Do law enforcement agencies need a probable-cause warrant to affix a GPS tracker to a target’s vehicle?
From ACM News
Brain Decoding: Reading Minds
Jack Gallant perches on the edge of a swivel chair in his lab at the University of California, Berkeley, fixated on the screen of a computer that is trying to decode someone's thoughts.
From ACM News
'running Battle': How Google Hopes to Beat Countries Cracking Down on Internet Freedom
Google hopes a little browser tool will help change the world.
From ACM Careers
Google: 'where Will Future Quantum Computer Scientists Come From? Our Best Guess: Minecraft'
Google is hoping to inspire children's interest in quantum computing by using one of their favourite digital pastimes: Minecraft.
From ACM TechNews
Nasa Says First Space Internet Test 'beyond Expectations'
The first tests of a laser communication system by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration have been surprisingly error-free.
From ACM TechNews
IBM nveils Computer Fed By 'electronic Blood'
IBM has released a prototype of a computer modeled after the human brain that uses liquid both to fuel and cool the system.
From ACM TechNews
Cybersecurity Jobs: Young Adults Show Little Interest in the Field
Few young adults are interested in cybersecurity careers, according to a new study.
From ACM TechNews
Forget Captcha, Try Inkblots
Generating panOptic Turing Tests to Tell Computers and Humans Apart (Gotcha) is a password mechanism based on a randomized puzzle-generation protocol.
From ACM TechNews
Software ses Cyborg Swarm to Map nknown Environs
New software could be used to map unknown environments based on the movement of a swarm of insect cyborgs.
From ACM TechNews
Managing the Deluge of 'big Data' From Space
Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are developing new strategies for managing large and complex data streams.
From ACM News
Memo to Workers: The Boss Is Watching
Dennis Gray suspected that workers in his pest-control company were spending too much time on personal issues during the workday.
From ACM News
The mbilical Link of Man to Robot
Atlas doesn't shrug. But he teeters, loses his grip, stutters, and staggers.
From ACM News
Wall Street Banks Learn How to Survive in Staged Cyber Attack
In a staged simulation called Quantum Dawn 2, bank executives in charge of operations, technology, and crisis planning were tasked with detecting how a massive cyber attack was unfolding in the markets—but each one only got to…
From ACM TechNews
C Davis Joins Cybersecurity Research Alliance
A new research alliance that will focus on detecting, modeling, and responding to cyberattacks on networks in real time.
From ACM TechNews
Web-Based Map Allows sers to See Intricate Patterns in .s. Population
A free, Web-based mapping site allows users to access detailed demographic data for any location in the United States.
From ACM TechNews
Groovy Programming Language Sees Major Boost in Popularity
Groovy has cracked the Tiobe Index top 20 list of the most popular programming languages.
From ACM News
Moocs Evolve; Version 2.0 Aims to Retain More Students
Given that student retention rates typically hover at just around 4-5% of those participating in free Web classes, some online courses have evolved to a sort of “MOOC 2.0” in an effort to retain more students.
From ACM Opinion
Here's Why the Feds Didn't Have More Skilled Programmers For Healthcare.gov
HealthCare.gov, the Web site at the center of President Obama's federal health insurance exchange, has been plagued with problems since it opened for business Oct. 1.
From ACM News
Killer Robots With Automatic Rifles Could Be on the Battlefield in 5 Years
Robots armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank missiles and even grenade launchers are marching, er, rolling ever closer to the battlefield now that they’ve shown they can actually hit what they’re supposed to.
From ACM News
Credit Cards Under Pressure to Police Online Expression
Earlier this month, major credit card processors including MasterCard, Visa, and America Express announced they would stop processing payments to websites that collect and publish mug shots online.
From ACM News
Huawei (yes, Huawei) Pushing For Global Security Standards
Remember that 1995 Alanis Morissette song, "Ironic?"
From ACM TechNews
Smarter Video Searching and Indexing
A new framework that would enable Internet users to search for videos using images rather than text could lead to smarter searching and indexing.
From ACM TechNews
World Record: Wireless Data Transmission at 100 Gbit/s
German researchers have developed a method for wireless data transmission at a world-record pace of 100 Gbps.
From ACM TechNews
Predicting the Future Could Improve Remote-Control of Space Robots
A new system could make robotic space exploration faster and more efficient by predicting the robot's future movements.
From ACM TechNews
New Technology Can Prevent Cellular Overload, Dropped Calls
A new method uses TV and radio channels to transmit cellular signals when cellular systems are pushed beyond capacity.
From ACM TechNews
Chinese Scientists Achieve Internet Access Through Light Bulbs
Researchers say they have developed a method for accessing the Internet using signals sent by light-bulbs (Li-Fi) instead of Wi-Fi.
From ACM TechNews
Got a Kickstarter Project? This Man Can Predict Within Four Hours If It Will Fail
Researchers have developed a method of predicting whether a Kickstarter project will succeed within four hours of its launch, with 76-percent accuracy.
From ACM TechNews
Call For Participation: 2014 Workshop on ACM History
The ACM History Committee is sponsoring a two-day workshop on professional archival practices on May 21-22, 2014, in Minneapolis, MN.
From ACM News
Contractors See Weeks of Work on Health Site
Federal contractors have identified most of the main problems crippling President Obama's online health insurance marketplace, but the administration has been slow to issue orders for fixing those flaws, and some contractors…