Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2021
From ACM TechNews
Taking Some Guesswork Out of Drug Discovery
The deep learning GeoMol model can rapidly predict the three-dimensional shapes of drug-like molecules, which could expedite drug discovery.
From ACM TechNews
FBI Document Shows How Popular Secure Messaging Apps Stack Up
An FBI document details the agency's ability to legally access content from secure messaging applications.
From ACM TechNews
Algorithm Shows Under the Right Conditions, Mosquitoes Flourish in Winter
A machine learning-based algorithm can precisely forecast microclimatic temperature within breeding grounds of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
From ACM TechNews
Thousands of AT&T Customers in the U.S. Infected by Data-Stealing Malware
Researchers at China's Qihoo 360 reported that the EWDoor malware has infected the networking devices of thousands of AT&T Internet customers in the U.S.
From ACM News
Amazon Fined $1.3 Billion in Italian Antitrust Case
Fine comes amid a similar investigation being carried out by EU authorities.
From ACM News
Over 200 Newspapers Quietly Sue Big Tech
To date, the group has been retained by over 30 newspaper ownership groups on behalf of over 200 publications to file lawsuits.
From ACM News
U.S., U.K. to Partner on Prize Challenges to Advance Privacy-Enhancing Technologies
The two nations anticipate launching the prize challenges in the spring of 2022, with initial results ready to be shared at the second Summit for Democracy.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Develop Algorithm to Increase Efficiency of Quantum Computers
A collaboration between researchers has yielded a scheme to boost quantum computers' speed and efficiency.
From ACM TechNews
Mobile Weed Killer for Tree Nurseries
Researchers have developed a mobile robot system that tree nurseries could deploy to remove weeds without the use of herbicides.
From ACM TechNews
AWS Outage Ripples Through U.S.
An outage of Amazon Web Services Tuesday angered millions of U.S. users
From ACM News
How Australian Police will Use DNA Sequencing to Predict What Suspects Look Like
The technology, seen as a "gamechanger" for forensic science, raises privacy and racial profiling issues.
From ACM News
Complaint to FTC Claims Amazon Search Results Full of Ads 'Unlawfully Deceiving' Consumers
More than a quarter of Amazon search results are paid ads, according to the complaint filed by a coalition of labor unions.
From ACM News
Tech Companies Join the Fight to Take Down Hacking Groups
Google and Microsoft are taking on hackers.
From ACM TechNews
Amazon Helping Researchers Study How to Dim the Sun
Amazon Web Services has donated cloud computing time to help climate scientists create simulations of the Earth from 2035 to 2070.
From ACM TechNews
Bots Talk Like Humans but Their Cloned Personalities Give Them Away
Researchers explored social spambots' behavior on social media, interaction with genuine accounts, and current bot technologies' capabilities.
From ACM TechNews
Critical Wormable Security Flaw Found in Several HP Printer Models
F-Secure Labs researchers reported two eight-year-old vulnerabilities affecting 150 HP multifunction printers could be exploited to commandeer target devices.
From ACM News
Car Hackers Could Drive You Off the Road (or They Might Settle for Money)
Automotive cybersecurity is a cat-and-mouse game, with the good guys and bad guys constantly chasing each other.
From ACM News
A Bitcoin Boom Fueled by Cheap Power, Empty Plants, and Few Rules
Cryptocurrency miners are flocking to New York's faded industrial towns, prompting concern over the environmental impact of huge computer farms.
From ACM News
Wave Goodbye to Window Washers
Robots are taking their jobs.
From ACM TechNews
Climate Change Data Deluge Sends Scientists Scrambling for Solutions
Scientists are racing to store, analyze, and preserve massive volumes of climate change data collected by sensor-equipped satellites, aircraft, and other instruments.
From ACM TechNews
Supermarkets Grapple with Checkout-Free Stores
J Sainsbury recently opened a checkout-free shop in London's Holborn district, where Amazon and Tesco also operate checkout-free stores.
From ACM TechNews
High-Speed Cell Holography Spots Beacons of Disease
Duke University scientists have engineered a holographic system that can image and analyze tens of thousands of cells per minute to identify disease indicators.
From ACM TechNews
Discovery Opens the Way for Brain-Like Computers
Researchers successfully combined a memory function with a calculation function in the same component.
From ACM News
How TikTok Reads Your Mind
It's the most successful video app in the world. An internal company document offers a new level of detail about how the algorithm works.
From ACM News
U.S. Military Has Acted Against Ransomware Groups
The head of Cyber Command said a new cross-functional effort has been gathering intelligence to combat criminal groups targeting U.S. infrastructure.
From ACM News
Twitter's New CEO Announces Major Reorganization
Engineering, design leads out as Parag Agrawal announces big changes.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Claim Big Advance in Using DNA to Store Data
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Georgia Tech Research Institute claim they can improve DNA data storage 100-fold with a new processor they developed.
From ACM TechNews
New Attacks on Web Browsers Detected
Information technology scientists detected 14 new types of Web browser-targeting cross-site leaks.
From ACM TechNews
South Korea Trials Robots in Preschools to Prepare Children for High-Tech Future
The South Korean government has launched trials of small robots in 300 nurseries and childcare centers in Seoul as teaching aids.
From ACM TechNews
Island Becomes Open-Air Lab for Tech-Savvy Volcanologists
Volcanologists are using cutting-edge technologies to study a rare volcanic eruption on La Palma, one of Spain's Canary Islands.