Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2019
From ACM TechNews
Louisiana Target of Attempted Ransomware Hack, Governor Says
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said attackers targeted the state with ransomware that impacted certain state servers, forcing initiation of security protocols and interruption of online services to prevent further infection.
…From ACM TechNews
Quantum Computers Learn To Mark Their Own Work
Scientists have developed a test to verify that a quantum computer is providing correct answers to questions outside the scope of traditional computing.
From ACM TechNews
Room-Sized LED Egg Captures Amazing 3D Models Of People Inside It
Google researchers have designed a prismatic light-emitting-diode (LED) "egg."
From ACM TechNews
Algorithms to Make Virginia Judges Fairer Have Unintended Consequences
Exploring the unintended consequences of human-algorithmic partnerships, researchers analyzed algorithms intended to reduce Virginia prison populations by assigning defendants risk scores.
From ACM TechNews
World's Fastest Supercomputers Hit Higher Speeds with Linux
The latest Top500 supercomputer ratings found the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Summit system topping the list with a High-Performance Linpack benchmark of 148.6 petaflops.
From ACM TechNews
The Longest Yard in Football
The National Football League is starting to use tracking technology that can distinguish exact distances and measure the value of a single inch, which could dramatically change in-game strategy.
From ACM TechNews
Nuclear Warheads? This Robot Can Find Them
Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University have developed a swarm of autonomous, rolling robots that can identify the source of nuclear radiation and determine whether it has been shielded…
From ACM News
Notes from SC19
The SC19 Supercomputing Conference has launched with the theme, "HPC is Now."
From ACM TechNews
Pressure-Sensing Drone Designed to Inspect Skyscrapers
Researchers at the Shenyang Institute of Automation in China have developed a prototype autonomous hexacopter drone that can inspect glass skyscrapers more quickly and safely than human inspectors.
From ACM TechNews
Deep Learning Expands Study of Nuclear Waste Remediation
Researchers have achieved exaflop performance on the Summit supercomputer.
From ACM TechNews
How VR Is Augmenting Realty
Over the past 30 years, virtual reality has evolved from a science fiction curiosity to an essential tool for the real estate industry.
From ACM TechNews
U.S. Army Creating Robots That Can Follow Orders
Researchers have developed software that allows robots to understand verbal instructions, carry out those instructions, and report back.
From ACM TechNews
NBA Teams Enhancing Fan Experience with High-Tech Replays
Six NBA teams are implementing 360-degree video replays in their arenas to augment the fan experience.
From ACM TechNews
How Do U.S. Students' Computer, Information Literacy Skills Stack Up?
An international study gauges students' computer and information literacy skills, along with computational thinking.
From ACM TechNews
Future of Autonomous Delivery May Be Unfolding in Suburban Houston
Robotics company Nuro has been field-testing delivery via autonomous vehicles (AV) in Houston.
From ACM TechNews
Hyundai Develops Next-Generation Noise Cancellation Technology
Hyundai researchers developed next-generation active noise cancellation (ANC) technology.
From ACM TechNews
Bespoke Bionic Hand Made in 10 Hours
Researchers have developed a method of three-dimensionally printing a bionic hand that incorporates muscle sensors to control an articulated thumb, enabling it to function similarly to a human hand.
From ACM News
Man versus Artificial Intelligence: From Deep Blue to DeepMind in 20 Years
Garry Kasparov and DeepMind's CEO Demis Hassabis discuss Kasparov's new book "Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins," his chess match with IBM Deep Blue, and his thoughts on the future of …
From ACM News
UNIX Version 0, Running on a PDP-7, in 2019
The Living Computers museum in Seattle has been running UNIX version 0 on a DEC PDP-7 minicomputer.
From ACM News
Quantum Radar and the Future of Warfare
Quantum radar could have implications for how we diagnose disease and fight wars.
From ACM News
Better Listening with Lossless Audio
The challenges and opportunities of Hi-Res streaming music services.
From ACM TechNews
AI System Evolves to Evade Internet Censorship
A artificial intelligence system based on genetic evolution has learned to automatically evade online censorship by repressive governments.
From ACM TechNews
Can a Unicorn Outrun Earthquakes?
Researchers are using the IBM AC922 Summit supercomputer to simulate the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
From ACM TechNews
IBM Hopes to Change Weather Forecasting Around the Globe Using Big Data, Supercomputer
IBM has launched a global weather model that it says offers more accurate forecasts for the entire world and can provide details for regions as small as two miles wide.
From ACM TechNews
Fordham Business Students Have New Tool to Prepare Them for Boardrooms: VR
Fordham University students are using virtual reality technology to build their business skills in simulated environments.
From ACM TechNews
Sensor to Save Children, Pets Left in Vehicles
A new device combines radar technology with artificial intelligence to detect unattended children or animals left in vehicles when the driver leaves with 100% accuracy.
From ACM TechNews
Worker Robots that Learn from Mistakes
Computer scientists are using the artificial intelligence techniques of automated planning and reinforcement learning to train a robot to find an object in a cluttered space and move it.
From ACM TechNews
How Russia's Online Censorship Could Jeopardize Internet Freedom Worldwide
Researchers have found Russia's Internet censorship laws have troubling implications for online freedom in the U.S. and other countries that share its decentralized network structure.
From ACM TechNews
Drone Registration Made Compulsory as U.K. Scheme Launches
A new mandatory national registration scheme calls for drone users in the U.K. to pass an online test and pay a £9 annual fee, or face a £1,000 fine.
From ACM TechNews
Software Developers in Fintech, Cloud Sectors Earn the Most in South Africa
South African software developers in the fintech and cloud services sectors are the most highly paid developers, according to the “2019 State of South Africa's Software Developers Nation” report.