Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2019
From ACM TechNews
'Hamlet' in Virtual Reality Casts the Viewer in the Play
Boston’s Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and Google have created a virtual reality (VR) version of "Hamlet" in which the viewer plays the ghost of Hamlet’s father.
From ACM TechNews
Self-Taught Robot Figures Out What It Looks Like, What It Can Do
Columbia University researchers have developed a robot that learns what it looks like without any outside help.
From ACM News
How Facebook Has Changed Computing
Because of Facebook's openness, many of its technologies have become industry standards.
From ACM News
The Rise of the Robot Reporter
As reporters and editors find themselves the victims of layoffs at digital publishers and traditional newspaper chains alike, journalism generated by machine is on the rise.
From ACM News
5 Reasons Why Autonomous Cars Aren't Coming Anytime Soon
In the world of autonomous vehicles, Pittsburgh and Silicon Valley are bustling hubs of development and testing. But ask those involved in self-driving vehicles when we might actually see them carrying passengers in every city…
From ACM TechNews
Engineers Program Marine Robots to Take Calculated Risks
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed an algorithm that lets autonomous underwater vehicles weigh the risks and rewards of exploring an unknown region.
From ACM TechNews
Data Scientists Face Off in LSST Machine-Learning Competition
An international machine learning challenge hosted on the Kaggle.com platform asked participants to identify which of 15 classifications was the best fit for each object.
From ACM TechNews
Volvo's Self-Driving Car Venture Gets Nod to Test on Swedish Roads
A joint venture between Volvo Cars and Veoneer has won approval to begin hands-free testing of its software for self-driving cars on Swedish highways.
From ACM News
How Machine Learning Could Keep Dangerous DNA Out of Terrorists' Hands
Biologists the world over routinely pay companies to synthesize snippets of DNA for use in the laboratory or clinic.
From ACM News
Harvard's Top Astronomer Says an Alien Ship May Be Among s, and He Doesn't Care What His Colleagues Think
Before he started the whole alien spaceship thing last year, the chairman of Harvard University's astronomy department was known for public lectures on modesty.
From ACM News
Computing Touch
Research groups working independently are closing in on imbuing limbs with a sense of touch via "e-dermis."
From ACM TechNews
Amazon Scout Robots Take to Pavements in Washington State
Amazon is pilot-testing a wheeled electric robot that travels on pavements to deliver packages to customers in Snohomish County, WA.
From ACM TechNews
This Video Game Tournament Will Test the Wits of Computers
Unity Technologies has announced the Obstacle Tower game and challenge, a video game tournament intended to contribute to artificial intelligence research.
From ACM TechNews
Digital Design, QB Investments Could Aid Football Helmets
Major football helmet manufacturers are funding and refining new digitally designed models with enhanced safety features.
From ACM TechNews
Putting Neural Networks nder the Microscope
Researchers have developed a method of identifying individual nodes in neural networks that capture specific linguistic features.
From ACM TechNews
Most People Overlook AI Despite Flawless Advice
U.S. Army researchers and colleagues have found a persistent gap in basic knowledge about the use of artificial intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
Drones Help Rid Galapagos Island of Rats
Drones flying over the Galapagos island of North Seymour dropped rat poison in an effort to eliminate invasive black and brown rats.
From ACM News
tah Tech Leaders Throw Down $5M Education Gauntlet at Silicon Slopes Summit
Five leaders each offer $1 million to match legislative funding for computer science in a first-of-its-kind program.
From ACM News
Deep Learning 'Godfather' Bengio Worries About China's se of AI
Yoshua Bengio, a Canadian computer scientist who helped pioneer the techniques underpinning much of the current excitement around artificial intelligence, is worried about China's use of AI for surveillance and political control…
From ACM News
“This Guy’s Arrogance Takes Your Breath Away”
Letters between John W. Backus and Edsger W. Dijkstra, 1979.
From ACM TechNews
Do Data Scientists Need Certification?
The Open Group information technology consortium has announced the establishment of a data scientist certification program to address the shortage of data scientists.
From ACM TechNews
IBM Facial Recognition Dataset Aims to Remove Gender, Skin Bias
IBM will provide a new million-image dataset to the global research community, to help developers eliminate gender and skin-type biases from facial recognition software.
From ACM TechNews
Fleet of Robots to Park Cars at Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport in the U.K. is working with Stanley Robotics to test a fleet of robot valets to park cars for arriving travelers.
From ACM TechNews
Expanding 3D Printing Network Aims to Improve .S. Veterans' Healthcare
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has expanded its integrated virtual three-dimensional printing network from three hospitals in early 2017 to 20 at the end of last year.
From ACM TechNews
Apple Exerts Power as Privacy Protector
Apple has penalized Google and Facebook for violating its developer policies controlling personal data by suspending internal apps used by both companies.
From Communications of the ACM
Being Recognized Everywhere
How facial and voice recognition are reshaping society.
From Communications of the ACM
A Brave New World of Genetic Engineering
Genetic engineering technologies are advancing at a furious rate, changing the world one cell at a time.
From Communications of the ACM
Technologizing Agriculture
An array of technologies are making farms more efficient, safer, and profitable.