Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2023
From ACM TechNews
Bots, Fraud Farms Responsible for 73% of Web Traffic
Arkose Labs reported malicious attacks by bots and human fraud farms accounted for 73% of all Web and app traffic in the third quarter of 2023.
From ACM TechNews
Drones Protect Wind Turbines from Ice
Researchers developed a method to protect wind turbines from ice using drones.
From ACM News
DARPA-Funded Research Leads to Quantum Computing Breakthrough
Harvard-led team develops novel logical qubits to enable scalable quantum computers.
From ACM News
Multimodal AI Connects the Digital Dots
By knitting together multiple components and data streams, multimodal AI offers the promise of smarter, more human-like systems.
From ACM News
Google's Gemini Is Not the Generative AI Model We Expected
DeepMind product VP Eli Collins claims Gemini Ultra can comprehend "nuanced" information in text, images, audio and code.
From ACM News
How Nations Are Losing a Global Race to Tackle A.I.'s Harms
Alarmed by the power of artificial intelligence, Europe, the U.S. and others are trying to respond, but the technology is evolving more rapidly than their policies.
From ACM TechNews
Wearable Communication System Could Reduce Digital Health Divide
University of Arizona (UA) researchers developed a wearable monitoring system that can send health data up to 15 miles without major infrastructure.
From ACM TechNews
Network of Robots Monitors Pipes Using Acoustic Wave Sensors
Researchers showed that guided acoustic wave sensors can enable networks of independent robots to inspect large pipe structures for defects.
From ACM TechNews
A Drone with Ears
Researchers developed a microphone array that can be added to drones, along with cameras, to help locate disaster victims.
From ACM News
Magnetic Revolution: Diamonds and Rust Rewrite Physics Textbooks
The researchers observed that magnetic monopoles in hematite emerge through the collective behavior of many spins (the angular momentum of a particle).
From ACM News
Cybersecurity Protects Food, Agriculture
Protecting the U.S. food supply from cyberattack.
From ACM TechNews
A Simpler Means for Visible Light Communication
Researchers at China's Nanchang University have developed a visible light communication (VLC) equalizer based on a single-order circuit.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Taught an Algorithm to 'Taste'
Scientists taught an algorithm to better predict an individual's tastes in wines.
From ACM TechNews
Using LLMs to Code New Tasks for Robots
A research team developed a tool that uses large language models to code new tasks for robots, which it then simulates.
From ACM News
IBM's 'Condor' Quantum Computer Has More Than 1,000 Qubits
IBM has revealed two quantum computers. One is the second-largest ever made, and the other produces fewer errors than any quantum computer the company has built so far.
From ACM News
The Inside Story of Microsoft's Partnership with OpenAI
The companies had honed a protocol for releasing artificial intelligence ambitiously but safely. Then OpenAI's board exploded all their carefully laid plans.
From ACM TechNews
Creating Virtual Objects with the Flick of a Finger
Researchers in the U.K. designed a system that allows the use of quick hand gestures to select tools to create objects and designs in virtual environments.
From ACM TechNews
Crowdsourced Feedback Helps Train Robots
A reinforcement learning approach trains robots using crowdsourced feedback from nonexpert users.
From ACM TechNews
Photonic Chip 'Fits Together Like Lego'
A new compact silicon photonic semiconductor chip significantly expands radio-frequency (RF) bandwidth.
From Communications of the ACM
Revamping Python for an AI World
Mojo has the same syntax as Python, but runs up to 35,000 times faster.
From Communications of the ACM
Tales of Topological Qubits
Emulating the behavior of exotic quantum states may give quantum computing a better way of squeezing out troublesome noise and errors.
From Communications of the ACM
Saving Digital Libraries and the Internet Archive
A battle over "truth and who has access to it in the digital age."