Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2016
From ACM TechNews
Here's How the White House Wants the .s. to Approach AI R&d
The White House has issued two new reports that detail how the U.S. government wants to approach research and development into artificial intelligence and what these initiatives should focus on.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Scientist Publishes Manifesto For Expressive Algorithmic Music
Gerhard Widmer at Austria's Johannes Kepler University has published a manifesto for music information research. He argues the field should refocus so it can facilitate a "qualitative leap in musically intelligent systems."
From ACM TechNews
The White House Frontiers Conference
President Barack Obama on Thursday will host the White House Frontiers Conference, an event co-hosted by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, which will focus on building U.S. capacity in science, technology…
From ACM TechNews
niversity to nveil .k.'s First Cave as Part of New Tech Hub
Edge Hill University is preparing to unveil the cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE), the U.K.'s first super-immersive three-dimensional virtual environment, as part of its new Technology Hub.
From ACM TechNews
Smallest. Transistor. Ever.
A research team at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has created a transistor with a working 1-nanometer gate.
From ACM TechNews
Tornadogenesis
A University of Oklahoma researcher is using computational thinking to identify precursors of tornadoes by generating high-resolution simulations of supercell storms.
From ACM TechNews
Syracuse University Researchers Work to Make Computers Faster
Syracuse University researchers are studying a phenomenon known as passive liquid flow, or transpiration, as part of an attempt to increase computer processing speeds.
From ACM News
Nasa's Opportunity Rover to Explore Mars Gully
NASA's Opportunity Mars rover will drive down a gully carved long ago by a fluid that might have been water, according to the latest plans for the 12-year-old mission. No Mars rover has done that before.
From ACM News
Cybathlon: Battle of the Bionic Athletes
Bionic arms, robotic legs, powered exoskeletons, brain-controlled computer interfaces and supercharged wheelchairs - all took centre stage to compete at this weekend's Cybathlon.
From ACM News
Even Bugs Will Be Bugged
When mark zuckerberg posted a picture of himself on Facebook in June, a sharp-eyed observer spotted a piece of tape covering his laptop’s camera.
From ACM News
Japanese Robotics Giant Gives Its Arms Some Brains
The big, dumb, monotonous industrial robots found in many factories could soon be quite a bit smarter, thanks to the introduction of machine-learning skills that are moving out of research labs at a fast pace.
From ACM News
An Infrared Look at Hurricane Matthew from Nasa's Airs
Hurricane Matthew, currently an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, continues to bear down on the southeastern United States.
From ACM TechNews
'virtual Physiotherapist' Helps Paralyzed Patients Exercise Using Computer Games
Researchers at the U.K.'s Imperial College London recently demonstrated a device that enables paralyzed stroke patients to play computer games as physical therapy.
From ACM TechNews
Your Next Nurse Could Be a Robot
Researchers from Italy's Polytechnic University of Milan led an international team that trained a robot to imitate natural human actions.
From ACM TechNews
Australia Says Its First Self-Driving Car Can 'navigate Without Driver Input'
An autonomous automobile developed by German manufacturer Bosch in collaboration with the Australian government were to be tested on Australian roads this week.
From ACM TechNews
'security Fatigue' Can Cause Computer Users to Feel Hopeless and Act Recklessly, New Study Suggests
Most computer users are so weary of following myriad procedures to keep their systems secure that they tend to engage in risky computing behavior.
From ACM TechNews
Fujitsu Memory Tech Speeds Up Deep-Learning AI
Japan-based Fujitsu has developed an approach to accelerating parallel computing driven by deep-learning neural network algorithms.
From ACM News
How the Street Light Has Been Given a Hi-Tech Makeover
Not only are light bulbs getting sharper and more energy efficient as they are upgraded to LEDs, but they increasingly help fight crime, promote safe cycling and even protect turtles.
From ACM Careers
nder Hawaii's Starriest Skies, a Fight Over Sacred Ground
Little lives up here except whispering hopes and a little bug called Wekiu.
From ACM News
Alien Life Could Feed on Cosmic Rays
A bizarre microbe found deep in a gold mine in South Africa could provide a model for how life might survive in seemingly uninhabitable environments through the cosmos.
From ACM News
Meet Noto, Google's Free Font For More Than 800 Language
Something funny happens when your computer or phone can’t display a font: A blank rectangular box pops up in place of the missing glyph.
From ACM News
Science at Cusp of 'transformational' Grasp of Life via Cell Modeling, Researchers Say
A new paper recently published in the Journal of Molecular Biology shows how advances in molecular biology and computer science around the world soon may lead to a three-dimensional computer model of a cell, the fundamental unit…
From ACM News
World's Tiniest Machines Win Chemistry Nobel
Three chemists who created tiny molecular machines have won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their intricate designs.
From ACM News
Study Predicts Next Global Dust Storm on Mars
Global dust storms on Mars could soon become more predictable—which would be a boon for future astronauts there—if the next one follows a pattern suggested by those in the past.
From ACM TechNews
CM Computer Beats Humans in 'doom' Video Game
Carnegie Mellon University researchers are using the videogame "Doom" as an artificial intelligence research platform as part of the Visual Doom AI Competition.
From ACM TechNews
You Can Help Map the Accessibility of the World
The Project Sidewalk tool uses Google Street View to rate the accessibility of Washington, DC, sidewalks for people with vision impairment or mobility issues.
From ACM TechNews
China Honors Computer Scientist John Hopcroft
John Hopcroft, IBM Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics in Computer Science at Cornell University, has received China's Friendship Award.
From ACM TechNews
Professor Shows Brain Waves Can Be sed to Detect Potentially Harmful Personal Information
Texas Tech University researchers are exploring how brain patterns and other modalities could be used to augment traditional user authentication methods.
From ACM News
.s. Tech Giants Are Investing Billions to Keep Data in Europe
In the battle to dominate Europe's cloud computing market, American tech giants are spending big to build up their local credibility.
From ACM News
At the Bleeding Edge of AI: Quantum Grocery Picking and Transfer Learning
Don't laugh, but there may come a time when quantum computers are sorting out your grocery deliveries, and if Paul Clarke, CTO of the online food store Ocado is right, it could be sooner than you think.