Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2015
From ACM TechNews
Forecasting the Flu Better
A research team at the University of California, San Diego says it has refined and improved the predictions of Google Flu Trends.
From ACM TechNews
ber and CM Collaborating on Robotically Driven Cars in Lawrenceville
Uber and Carnegie Mellon University are jointly creating a robotics research lab and technology center at the RIDC Chocolate Factory in Pittsburgh.
From ACM TechNews
Stanford Researchers se Big Data to Identify Patients at Risk of High-Cholesterol Disorder
Stanford University researchers are working to identify hospital patients who may have a genetic disease that causes a deadly buildup of cholesterol in their arteries.
From ACM TechNews
Crowdsourcing America's Cybersecurity Is an Idea So Crazy It Might Just Work
Crowdsourced cybersecurity is gaining ground.
From ACM TechNews
European Project Launches the World's First Real-Time 'mixed Reality' Ski Race
The European Commission is funding an interactive mixed reality downhill ski race as part of the 3D LIVE project.
From ACM News
Don't Call Them 'utility' Rules: The Fcc's Net Neutrality Regime, Explained
Within a few weeks we’ll have a huge document full of legalese on the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules, to replace the near-200-page order from 2010 that was mostly overturned by a court ruling last year…
From ACM News
Could a Robot Have Written This Story? The Rise of the Robo-Journalist
At large news agencies where speed is crucial, template-style stories have long been used for company results, allowing journalists to simply key in the relevant facts and numbers and fire off the dispatch.
From ACM News
Planck Mission Explores the History of Our Universe
Hot gas, dust and magnetic fields mingle in a colorful swirl in this new map of our Milky Way galaxy.
From ACM Opinion
Quantum Computing Without Qubits
For more than 20 years, Ivan H. Deutsch has struggled to design the guts of a working quantum computer.
From ACM News
The Computer that Crunches Cloud Data to Heat Your Home
Each photo we "like", email we send, and search we run creates heat.
From ACM TechNews
Programming Safety Into Self-Driving Cars
University of Massachusetts, Amherst professor Shlomo Zilberstein has been investigating ways of helping semi-autonomous systems to better make decisions.
From ACM TechNews
Lost Chunk of Pioneering EDSAC Computer Found
An original part of one of the United Kingdom's pioneering computers has been donated to a project that is working to rebuild the machine.
From ACM TechNews
Team Led By UCLA and Columbia Engineers Uses Disorder to Control Light on a Nanoscale
Researchers have made a discovery that could lead to the more precise transfer of information in computer chips.
From ACM TechNews
'if We Want to Out Compete, We Have to Out Compute,' Witnesses Tell Congressional Science Committee
Experts in high-performance computing and science policy called for more funding for supercomputing resources and research.
From ACM News
Comet Scientists Abandon Philae Flyby
The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft will not make a dedicated flyby to search for the lost comet lander Philae any time soon, according to a post on the agency's Rosetta blog.
From ACM News
Graphene's Cousin Silicene Makes Transistor Debut
Seven years ago, silicene was little more than a theorist's dream.
From ACM News
British Army Creates Team of Facebook Warriors
The British army is creating a special force of Facebook warriors, skilled in psychological operations and use of social media to engage in unconventional warfare in the information age.
From ACM Opinion
Google Brain's Co-Inventor Tells Why He's Building Chinese Neural Networks
To chat with Andrew Ng I almost have to tackle him.
From ACM Careers
Programming: Pick p Python
Last month, Adina Howe took up a post at Iowa State University in Ames. Officially, she is an assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.
From ACM TechNews
German Professor Develops Method to Secure IoT Smart Device Data
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology professor Martina Zitterbart is developing a way to hide data transmitted on smart devices that will run on the Internet of Things.
From ACM TechNews
Shopping Through the Lens of It
Pennsylvania State University researchers are studying how smart cameras could eventually guide visually-impaired shoppers to find the items they need.
From ACM TechNews
School Leaders Mostly Mystified by Computer Science Education
A disparity exists in the type of computer science education available to students in higher- versus lower-income schools, according to a new survey of U.S. teachers.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Determine How the Brain Controls Robotic Grasping Tools
University of Missouri researchers suggest the cerebellum may play a critical role in controlling assistive robots for the disabled.
From ACM TechNews
Graphene Displays Clear Prospects For Flexible Electronics
Researchers have demonstrated that new two-dimensional designer materials can be produced to create flexible, transparent, and more efficient electronic devices.
From ACM News
Pursuing Deep Learning
Startups are trying to take advantage of deep learning techniques to improve search results.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft Ecologists Compute Future of the Planet
Environmentally focused computer scientists at Microsoft Research Cambridge will discuss their work at an upcoming agriculture technology summit.
From ACM News
Brain Power: Pitt Hosts All-Female Computer Programming Competition
Last weekend, the University of Pittsburgh Department of Computer Sciences hosted the "She Innovates" hackathon for women.
From ACM Careers
I'll Be Back: The Return of Artificial Intelligence
The artificial-intelligence industry, a field that conjures up images of humanoid robots and self-aware computer systems, is making a comeback at Silicon Valley companies like Scaled Inference Inc.
From ACM News
China's Internet Population Hits 649 Million, 86 Percent on Phones
China had 649 million Internet users by the end of 2014, with 557 million of those using handsets to go online, said a government report on Tuesday, as the world's biggest smartphone market continues its shift to mobile.
From ACM TechNews
Go and Rust: The Road Ahead For Two Young Programming Languages
Go and Rust are two rising programming languages that have top-of-the-line pedigrees, created by major forces in the technology industry.