Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2019
From ACM TechNews
Government Regimes May Be Learning New Twitter Tactics to Quash Dissent
Researchers suggest authoritarian governments may be using new Twitter strategies to suppress social media-using dissenters.\
From ACM TechNews
Demonstration of High-Speed SOT-MRAM Memory Cell Compatible with 300-mm Si CMOS Technology
A new high-speed spin-orbit-torque magnetoresistive random-access memory cell interoperates with silicon complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology.
From ACM TechNews
Intel Creates Chip to Control Quantum Computers
Intel has announced a chip designed to control quantum computers by assuming the workload of the many wires that typically connect such systems to controllers.
From ACM News
Autonomy and Automation on the Water
Self-driving and remote-controlled vessels are taking over some duties from human crews.
From ACM News
Donald Knuth Reflects on 50 years of ‘The Art of Computer Programming‘
Knuth is known for introducing the notion of "literate programming," emphasizing the importance of writing code that is readable by humans as well as computers.
From ACM TechNews
Spying on Hippos with Drones to Help Conservation
Researchers in Australia are using drones to help conservation efforts for hippos.
From ACM TechNews
Walmart Teams With Nuro's Robot Cars to Deliver Groceries in Houston
Nuro has announced a partnership with Walmart to pilot-test grocery delivery via robot vehicles in Houston.
From ACM TechNews
Advanced Technology May Indicate How Brain Learns Faces
Researchers have demonstrated that deep convolutional neural networks operate similarly to the way human brains do, in terms of identifying faces.
From ACM TechNews
Wetlands, Crops Can Mitigate Storm Damage to Coastal Cities
A new computer model shows that coastal cities can avoid some wind destruction from major weather events if they have functional wetland ecosystems and agricultural croplands in the area.
From ACM TechNews
A Network Design for the 'Internet from Space'
Researchers are proposing a network design that could double the network capacity of low-flying satellites to create an "Internet from Space."
From ACM News
A Sobering Message About the Future at AI's Biggest Party
Leaders in artificial intelligence warn that progress is slowing, big challenges remain, and simply throwing more computers at a problem isn't sustainable.
From ACM News
Introducing the AI Index 2019 Report
The AI Index 2019 Report is an independent initiative within Stanford University's Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute, the result of a collaborative effort led by the AI Index Steering Committee.
From ACM News
Killer Robots Aren’t Regulated. Yet.
"Killing in the Age of Algorithms" is a New York Times documentary examining the future of artificial intelligence and warfare.
From ACM TechNews
2019 ACM Fellows Recognized for Far-Reaching Accomplishments that Define the Digital Age
ACM has recognized 58 members by naming them 2019 ACM Fellows for their contributions to areas that underpin the defining technologies of the digital age.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Criticize AI Software That Predicts Emotions
The AI Now Institute at New York University is urging a ban on the use of artificial intelligence that automatically analyzes facial expressions to influence hiring and other decisions.
From ACM TechNews
Testing Tech Ideas in Public? San Francisco Says: Get a Permit
The city of San Francisco, CA, will require businesses to obtain a permit before testing their high-tech ideas on the city’s streets.
From ACM TechNews
The U.S. Cities Where Robots Impact Jobs Most
Midwestern states saw the sharpest growth in robots used in the workplace from 2009 to 2017, according to a new report.
From ACM TechNews
Underground Fiber-Optic Cables Help Scientists Record Thunderquakes
Researchers have found that underground fiber-optic cables can be used to track thunderstorms.
From ACM TechNews
Facebook's AI Masters the Card Game Hanabi
Researchers at Facebook have taught the company's artificial intelligence software how to play the game Hanabi, a Solitaire-like card game that requires players to work together.
From ACM TechNews
Japanese Researchers Teaching Robots to Repair Themselves
Researchers have demonstrated how to teach a PR2 robot to perform simple repairs on itself by tightening its own screws.
From ACM TechNews
Framework Brings Accuracy, Efficiency to Identifying Stop Words
An algorithmic approach for data analysis automatically recognizes uninformative words, known as stop words, in a large collection of text.
From ACM TechNews
Bioprinter Shows Potential to Speed Tissue Engineering
Researchers have developed a bioprinter that can speed computer-controlled creation of human tissue.
From ACM News
Handling Holiday Hackers
How to defend intimate details and card data while shopping online this season.
From ACM News
Silicon Valley Is Listening to Your Most Intimate Moments
How the world's biggest companies got millions of people to let temps analyze some very sensitive recordings.
From ACM News
Hackers Can Mess With Voltages to Steal Intel Chips' Secrets
A new attack called Plundervolt gives attackers access to the sensitive data stored in a processor's secure enclave.
From ACM TechNews
Using Computers to View the Unseen
Scientists have advanced a technique to envision scenes outside a line of sight without special gear.
From ACM TechNews
Facebook's Ad Tools Subsidize Partisanship; Campaigns May Not Even Know It.
Researchers found that the technologies Facebook uses to sort the relevancy of advertising may be more responsible for the polarization of U.S. politics than previously known.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft, Ford Try Using Quantum-Style Computing to Solve Seattle's Traffic Problem
Microsoft and Ford Motor are using quantum-inspired computing models to try to optimize traffic management in Seattle.
From ACM TechNews
On Data Privacy, India Charts Its Own Path
India is considering its first major data privacy statute.
From ACM TechNews
3D-Printed Bunny Contains DNA Instructions to Make Copy of Itself
Researchers three-dimensionally-printed a polyester rabbit that contains DNA in which instructions for making copies of itself are stored.