Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2014
From ACM TechNews
Bitcoin Lets Users Avoid Censorship
An Eindhoven University of Technology student has developed software that encrypts messages for the Bitcoin network.
From ACM TechNews
MIT Engineers Have High Hopes For Cheetah Robot
A new cheetah-inspired robot can run on batteries at speeds of more than 10 miles per hour, jump about 16 inches high, land safely, and continue running for 15 minutes.
From ACM TechNews
Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could End Mankind
British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking says he worries about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
See It, Touch It, Feel It
University of Bristol researchers have developed a method to produce three-dimensional shapes that can be felt in mid-air.
From ACM TechNews
Firmer Footing For Robots With Smart Walking Sticks
The SupraPed robotic platform uses "smart staffs" inspired by walking sticks to better balance and move over uneven terrain.
From ACM News
Can Internet Companies Monitor Terrorists?
Facebook is saying little apart from the fact that "we do not allow terrorist content on the site and take steps to prevent people from using our service for these purposes".
From ACM TechNews
Brain Inspired Data Engineering
IMDEA Networks launched the BRAin inspired Data Engineering (BRADE-CM) research project in October.
From ACM News
3-D-Printing Bio-Electronic Parts
A 3-D printer can already make a prototype or spare part out of metal or polymer.
From ACM News
How Google 'translates' Pictures Into Words sing Vector Space Mathematics
Translating one language into another has always been a difficult task.
From ACM News
Intel pgrades Stephen Hawking's Portal to the World
Movie audiences who went to theaters this fall to see The Theory of Everything got a glimpse of the challenges physicist Stephen Hawking has overcome to deliver his groundbreaking insights into the nature of black holes, space…
From ACM TechNews
Modeling the Ripples of Health Care Information
University of Chicago researchers will use a $3-million U.S. National Institutes of Health grant to create a tool for assessing health care innovations and policies.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Engineer Improvements of Technology sed in Digital Memory
Researchers have engineered and tested improvements in the performance of a memory structure known as a ferroelectric tunnel junction.
From ACM TechNews
Can We Create an Energy Efficient Internet?
A new research program seeks to reduce the energy consumption of Internet-connected devices by developing new hardware and cloud-based solutions.
From ACM News
To Lure Young, Movie Theaters Shake, Smell and Spritz
Having tried 3-D films, earsplitting sound systems and even alcohol sales in pursuit of younger moviegoers, some theater chains are now installing undulating seats, scent machines and 270-degree screens.
From ACM News
The Supreme Court Debates Rap Lyrics to Draw a Line on Criminalizing Online Speech
The Supreme Court on Monday looked ready to clarify the law on whether violent threats made on websites like Facebook should be liable for criminal prosecution, though several justices appeared uncertain of what standards to…
From ACM News
Why Nasa Looks to Europa to Find the Building Blocks of Life
When it comes to life, biologists have long hypothesised that its origins—on Earth, at least—were in thermal vents on the ocean floor, following a period of spontaneous metabolism before life began.
From ACM News
Bringing Transparency to the High-End Art Market
A site that connects fine art buyers and sellers serves as the equivalent of an "Art Fair on the Internet."
From ACM Opinion
Turing's Spirit Hovers at a Restored Estate
When "Captain Ridley's shooting party" gathered here in late August 1938 as weekend guests at Bletchley Park, a Buckinghamshire country house, they were accompanied by one of the finest chefs from the Savoy hotel.
From ACM News
Time Cloak sed to Hide Messages in Laser Light
A "time cloak" that conceals events rather than objects can hide secret messages through a trick of light, making information invisible to all but the intended recipient.
From ACM Careers
Gregarious and Direct: China's Web Doorkeeper
When a major Chinese-American Internet conference convenes in Washington on Tuesday, a middle-aged Communist Party propaganda chief will be seated amid a room full of tech industry executives, American officials and web luminaries…
From ACM TechNews
Studying the Speed of Multi-Hop Bluetooth Networks
Researchers have studied the performance of Bluetooth networks and measured the delays taking place in information transmission.
From ACM TechNews
Codebreaking Has Moved on Since Turing's Day, With Dangerous Implications
Recent interest in computing and cryptography pioneer Alan Turing offers an opportunity to see the massive gains that have been made in the field of codebreaking.
From ACM TechNews
Co-Robots Team Up With Humans
A group of researchers believe people and robots will be able to accomplish much more by working together, as long as robots have common sense.
From ACM TechNews
Simple Circuit Could Double Cell-Phone Data Speeds
A simple circuit could enable smartphones and other wireless devices to send and receive data twice as fast as is currently possible.
From ACM TechNews
German Study Supports Free 'super Wi-Fi'
A recent study proposed additional TV frequencies should not be marketed, but used to extend wireless networks.
From ACM TechNews
Study: U.s. Attracting Fewer Educated, Highly-Skilled Migrants
The U.S. is no longer drawing as large a share of the world's highly educated and skilled workers as it once did, according to a new study.
From ACM TechNews
Virtual Money--At Your Own Risk
Bitcoin does not protect a user's Internet Protocol address and can be linked to transactions in real time, according to a new study.
From ACM News
Museum Switches on Historic Computer
A project to recreate one of Britain's pioneering computers has reached a key milestone.
From ACM News
Supreme Court Case Tests the Limits of Free Speech on Facebook and Other Social Media
About a week after Tara Elonis persuaded a judge to issue a protective order against her estranged husband, Anthony, her soon-to-be ex had this to say: "Fold up your PFA [protection-from-abuse order] and put it in your pocket…
From ACM News
Tech’s Gender Gap Wasn’t Always So Bad. Here’s How It Got Worse
A new documentary film called CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap explores the glaring lack of American female and minority computer science engineers.