Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2016
From ACM TechNews
Paving the Way For Light-Based Circuits
Researchers from the Institute for Basic Science in Korea have developed three key components for building circuits that work with light instead of electrons.
From ACM TechNews
A Blueprint For Getting More Women Into Information Technology
The rise in qualified U.S. information technology graduates is far from fast enough to keep up with industry demands for IT skills.
From ACM News
Who Decides the Future of Work?
The beginning of “a broad conversation” on whether technology should drive society, or should people make decisions about how technology supplements (or supplants) employment?
From ACM News
.s. Proposes Requiring Vehicles to 'talk' to Each Other to Avoid Crashes
The U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday proposed requiring all new cars and trucks to be able to "talk" to one another using short-range wireless technology to potentially avoid tens of thousands of crashes annually.
From ACM News
Big Data Projects Ramp p
Harvested data could hold the key to solving some of society’s greatest problems.
From ACM News
7,500 Faceless Coders Paid in Bitcoin Built a Hedge Fund's Brain
Richard Craib is a 29-year-old South African who runs a hedge fund in San Francisco. Or rather, he doesn't run it.
From ACM News
Algorithms Compete to Predict Recipe For Cancer Vaccine
Could predictive algorithms be the key to creating a successful cancer vaccine?
From ACM TechNews
Computer-Based Biology Uncovers Secrets to Rice Growth
University of Indiana researchers are using a mix of experimental and computational work to study rice genetics, with the goal of addressing global issues in hunger and malnutrition.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Show Viability of 5g Communication With Record-Setting Data Rates
The world's longest bidirectional phased-array link in the 60 GHz band was announced by Keysight Technologies and the University of California, San Diego.
From ACM TechNews
Sweating Big Human-Body Data Challenge
University of California, Berkeley professor Ali Javey heads a project involving wearable electronics to help address an inability to "monitor health conditions of an individual at the molecular level."
From ACM News
Did the Russians 'hack' the Election? A Look at the Established Facts
President-elect Donald Trump continues to discount or attempt to discredit reports that the intelligence community has linked the hacking of the DNC, the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and related information operations…
From ACM News
Designing a Safer Battery For Smartphones (that Won't Catch Fire)
Mike Zimmerman likes to shock his guests by using a hammer to drive a nail through a solid polymer lithium metal battery.
From ACM Careers
Controversial Impact Factor Gets a Heavyweight Rival
One of science's most contentious metrics has a flashy new rival. On 8 December, publishing giant Elsevier launched the CiteScore index to assess the quality of academic journals.
From ACM TechNews
AI Can Turn a Photo of Your Face Into an ncanny 3D Model
Researchers have developed a learning algorithm capable of building a precise three-dimensional model of a person's head based on a single low-resolution photo of their face.
From ACM TechNews
Printable Electronics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers have developed an ultra-thin, high-resolution printing process that makes use of nanoporous stamps.
From ACM TechNews
Google-Funded Flint Water App Helps Residents Find Lead Risk, Resources
Computer science researchers at the University of Michigan have released a mobile application and website to help Flint, MI, manage its ongoing water crisis.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Computers Ditch All the Lasers For Easier Engineering
Researchers from the University of Sussex in the U.K. have replaced the millions of lasers in traditional quantum computing systems with several static magnets and a few electromagnetic fields.
From ACM TechNews
AI Begins to Understand the 3D World
Artificial intelligence researchers are constructing systems that can visualize the three-dimensional world and take action.
From ACM TechNews
Super-Flexible Liquid Crystal Device For Bendable and Rollable Displays
Researchers from Japan's Tohoku University say they have developed a super-flexible liquid crystal device, in which two ultra-thin plastic substrates are firmly bonded by polymer wall spacers.
From ACM News
Nasa Juno Mission Prepares For December 11 Jupiter Flyby
On Sunday, December 11, at 9:04 a.m. PST (12:04 p.m. EST, 17:04 UTC) NASA's Juno spacecraft will make its third science flyby of Jupiter.
From ACM News
In Memoriam: Andrew Birrell 1951-2016
He specialized in "in the general area of operating systems and distributed systems, with occasional excursions into security."
From ACM News
Graphene-Spiked Silly Putty Picks p Human Pulse
A dash of graphene can transform the stretchy goo known as Silly Putty into a pressure sensor able to monitor a human pulse or even track the dainty steps of a small spider.
From ACM TechNews
Taking Back Control of an Autonomous Car Affects Human Steering Behavior, Stanford Research Shows
A research team testing the handover of driving from autonomous cars to human drivers found such a shift can be difficult for people if conditions have changed since the last time they were at the wheel.
From ACM TechNews
No Peeking: Humans Play Computer Game sing Only Direct Brain Stimulation
A recent experiment demonstrated how humans can interact with virtual realities via direct brain stimulation.
From ACM TechNews
Is Your Favorite Ballplayer Hitting When It Matters, or Just Padding His Stats?
Researchers have added to the field of baseball statistics with the first analysis of hitters' performance when their team is either almost guaranteed to win, or is so far behind the game is out of reach.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft, Code.org Target Beginner Coders With Minecraft Program
Microsoft and Code.org have released a new tutorial for Hour of Code, an annual campaign held during Computer Science Education Week to encourage more students to develop an interest in coding.
From ACM TechNews
Meet the World's First Completely Soft Robot
Harvard University researchers have created the first self-contained soft robot.
From ACM News
Inside the Big Dish that Brought US Tv from the Moon
The Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia, is one of the most elegant scientific instruments ever built.
From ACM News
A Drug Laboratory on Wheels
Decentralizing the way medicines are made.
From ACM News
Earth's Day Lengthens By Two Milliseconds a Century, Astronomers Find
There may never be enough hours in the day to get everything done, but at least the forces of nature are conspiring to help out.