Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2011
From ACM News
The Revolution in Photography
When a set of online teasers for a new camera called the Lytro appeared earlier this year, you could have been forgiven for seeing the invention as just another gimmick. The camera’s attention-grabbing feature is a kind of after…
From ACM News
DARPA Looks to Protect Drones from Hack Attacks
Cybersecurity, as interpreted by the Pentagon’s premiere researcher, isn’t just about protecting data networks. It’s about making the military’s killer drones, subs, and trucks hacker-proof as well, Darpa revealed this week…
From ACM TechNews
Closing the Girl Gap in Science
Southern Illinois University is one of the few U.S. schools where males outnumber female students, as women make up just 44 percent of undergraduates.
From ACM TechNews
First-Ever Leadership in Science Policy Institute Kicks Off
The Computing Community Consortium recently held its inaugural Leadership in Science Policy Institute workshop in Washington, D.C., which gave 35 computing researchers an opportunity to participate in an event intended to educate…
From ACM TechNews
Nsf Renews Grant For Scientists Who Study How the Brain Acquires Visual Expertise
Researchers studying how the brain acquires visual expertise will receive an additional $4 million in funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
From ACM TechNews
DARPA Boosts Cybersecurity Research Spending 50 Percent
DARPA plans to increase spending on cybersecurity research by 50 percent over the next five years.
From ACM News
Russians Fight to Save Mars Probe After Mishap
Russian space engineers scrambled Wednesday to salvage an ambitious science mission to Mars after the unmanned spacecraft became stranded in Earth orbit. If they are not successful, the probe, which is loaded with toxic fuel…
From ACM News
Gamers Create Scientific 'recipes'
Researchers say that players of a protein-folding game called Foldit are coming up with molecular "recipes" that rival their own complex algorithms. One of the recipes—a computerized tool called "Blue Fuse," which checks whether…
From ACM News
Gestural Interfaces Go Mainstream
Starting with the handheld controllers introduced by the Nintendo Wii console in 2006, gamers have been able to control computers by making gestures in the air rather than with joysticks, game pads, or keyboards. Microsoft…
From ACM TechNews
The Future of Human Computer Interfaces
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers are developing novel and more natural ways for people to interact with computers and access and store information.
From ACM TechNews
In Love With Android: Q&a With Matias Duarte
Google Android user experience director Matias Duarte notes that games influenced the new design for Android version 4.0, which includes new features such as Face Unlock, a facial-recognition system that opens the phone.
From ACM TechNews
Artificial Intelligence Joins the Fossil Hunt
Researchers at Western Michigan University and Washington University in St. Louis have developed a predictive model that uses computer learning systems to identify potential fossil sites from satellite data.
From ACM TechNews
Generation Jobless: Students Pick Easier Majors Despite Less Pay
Although the number of college graduates increased about 29 percent from 2001 to 2009, the number graduating with engineering degrees increased just 19 percent and the number with computer and information sciences degrees decreased…
From ACM TechNews
Bell Labs Builds Telepresence 'robots'
Bell Labs researchers are developing Nethead, a videoconferencing robot that could give remote workers a physical presence in office meetings.
From ACM News
Minister: Iran Should Be Ready to Counter Any Possible Cyber Attack
Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou has said that the enemies are making every effort to create disruption in software and hardware systems of Iranian governmental centers.
From ACM News
Flash: Crippled But Alive... For Now
Today, Adobe confirmed that it's extinguishing the Flash Player plug-in for mobile devices.
From ACM Opinion
Irobot Ceo: Enough with the Gimmick 'bots
It's no surprise that uber-geek and iRobot CEO Colin Angle is a Star Wars fan.
From ACM News
Supreme Court Sees Shades of 1984 in Unchecked Gps Tracking
A number of Supreme Court justices invoked the specter of Big Brother while hearing arguments Tuesday over whether the police may secretly attach GPS devices on Americans’ cars without getting a probable-cause warrant.
From ACM News
Nasa Captures New Images of Large Asteroid Passing Earth
NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing close to Earth.
From ACM TechNews
Insights From Spinning Samples
University of Texas Center for Analytical Ultracentrifugation of Macromolecular Assemblies director Borries Demeler has developed UltraScan, software for use with the UltraScan LIMS portal, which enables researchers to analyze…
From ACM TechNews
Supercomputers Accelerate Development of Advanced Materials
Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and MIT have launched the Materials Project, which aims to accelerate the process for finding new materials to be used in a clean energy technology.
From ACM TechNews
Yahoo! Mixes 'Cocktails' Web Development Frameworks
Yahoo! recently introduced Cocktails, a set of Web development frameworks for simplifying the creation and deployment of Web applications.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Science Professor Finds Yelp Leak
A security leak in the mobile version of Yelp gave Web site visitors access to reviewers' personal information, according to social networking and Internet economics researchers.
From ACM News
Justices Weigh Privacy vs. Gps Bugs
In a case that questions the Constitution's meaning in light of modern surveillance technology, the Supreme Court will consider Tuesday whether police need a warrant before secretly attaching a GPS tracking device to a suspect's…
From ACM News
Why Can't Americans Vote Online?
Tuesday is Election Day in the United States, and although the mostly state and local races won't stir the same passions as next year's presidential contest, millions of people will cast ballots.
From ACM News
It Started Digital Wheels Turning
Researchers in Britain are about to embark on a 10-year, multimillion-dollar project to build a computer—but their goal is neither dazzling analytical power nor lightning speed.
From ACM News
Researchers High On Cloud Robotics
The goal of cloud robotics is to enable robots to perform data-intensive functions, like image processing and voice recognition, by offloading the vast amounts of data the tasks require to remote servers.
From ACM News
Poor Penmanship Spells Job Security For Post Office's Scribble Specialists
A man in Emden, Mo., recently mailed a letter that he had addressed, in a scribble, to somebody in "Shelhjreille, Mo." That's the way his handwriting made it look, anyhow.
From ACM News
Google Changes Search Algorithm, Trying to Make Results More Timely
Many Google search results will be more timely after Google made a significant change to its search algorithm last week that it said would affect about 35% of searches.
From ACM News
Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales on the Internet's Future
Censorship is the biggest threat to the development of the Internet, according to Wikipedia's founder Jimmy Wales.