Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2009
From ACM TechNews
Machines That Can See
Computer vision or object recognition has progressed by leaps and bounds to the degree that machines can in some instances surpass humans. Applications being developed and/or implemented include monitoring systems in which video…
From ACM News
Ancient Cultures Are Just a Click Away
Thanks to European research, today's portals can take you to fascinating virtual destinations — both ancient and new — and all just a click away. The work allows virtual "internauts" to explore the world, its cultures, languages…
From ACM TechNews
Future Shock: The Pc of 2019
The personal computer (PC) is expected to advance in both intelligence and form factor over the next 10 years, evolving into a merger of computing devices and peripherals that can help carry out "the higher cognitive tasks of…
From ACM News
Acm Awards Recognize Innovators Who Solve Real World Problems
ACM has announced the winners of five prestigious awards honoring innovations in computing technology that benefit society through their profound impact on the way we live and work. The awards reflect outstanding achievements…
From ACM TechNews
Computer Science Majors Increase at Most Significant Rate Since Dot Com Boom
The number of computer science majors enrolled in U.S. universities rose 8.1 percent in 2008, the first increase in six years, reports the Computing Research Association (CRA) in its 2007-2008 annual CRA Taulbee Survey. Total…
From ACM TechNews
Georgia Tech Professors Predict Final Four Match ps
The Logistic Regression Markov Chain (LRMC), a computer-ranking system designed by Georgia Institute of Technology professors, predicts that the basketball teams from the universities of North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Memphis, and…
From ACM TechNews
Sc09 Announces Technical Program Focus
This year's SC09 conference will focus on the role of high-performance computing (HPC) in biological sciences, environmental sustainability, and the emerging three-dimensional (3D) Internet. The week-long conference, which takes…
From ACM TechNews
Studying the Female Form: Math Could Lead to Sexier Lingerie, Safer Labcoats
Researchers at Japan's Kyoto Institute of Technology and Osaka University have developed a computerized model for identifying body shape components that can be used to design close-fitting products. The researchers have developed…
From ACM News
India Will Be Big Technology Innovator in Next Decade
India will be at the forefront of innovation in the coming decade, according to MIT's Technology Review. The driver of this innovation will be investments in science and technology, but India's leadership will also extend beyond…
From ACM News
'fashion Model Robot' nveiled, Already Harassed
While that perv in the back is busy shooting HRP-4C's buttocks, the rest of us can marvel at the fact that Japan has produced a walking, talking fashion robot. Standing at just over 5-feet tall and 95-pounds, HRP-4C, developed…
From ACM TechNews
Sending Out Internet Warnings For Outages, Viruses
An early warning system on the Internet could help Europe avoid deliberate or accidental outages, restrict the spread of new viruses, and ensure reliable services, say Malte Hesse and Norbert Pohlmann from the Institute for Internet…
From ACM TechNews
Ec Calls For Energy Efficiency Through Ict
The European Commission (EC) believes information and communication technologies (ICT) can be used to reduce energy use, which also would help in the effort to address climate change and help spur an economic recovery. The EC…
From ACM News
Slimmer, Stickier Nanorods Give Boost to 3-D Computer Chips
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new technique for growing slimmer copper nanorods, a key step for advancing integrated 3-D chip technology. The nanorods fuse together, or anneal, at a relatively…
From ACM TechNews
Nasa Plans Improved
NASA is testing the use of software-defined radios (SDRs) to enable its Deep Space Network to function as an Internet in space. NASA is preparing a SDR test module for the International Space Station that will provide an Internet…
From ACM TechNews
Government Cyberattacks Militarize the Web
Distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks are now being used by governments as another way to counter opposition, warns Arbor Networks senior security researcher Jose Nazario, who expects the Internet to become increasingly…
From ACM News
That's Mr. Roboto to You
Scientists in Japan are testing a robotic teacher at fifth- and sixth-grade classes at a primary school in Tokyo. Originally introduced as a secretary, the Saya robot is presumably programmed not to get burnt out, surly or despondent…
From ACM TechNews
Tech Skills Crucial to Any Career, Students Say
A recent IBM Academic Initiative survey found that 80 percent of 1,600 college students polled agreed that high-technology skills will help them succeed, and a majority expect to have to master new technologies while in the workforce…
From ACM TechNews
Carnegie Mellon Engineers Create Innovative Mobile Video Service to Give Sports Fans Unprecedented Access to Key Plays
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) engineers Priya Narasimhan and Rajeev Gandhi have led the development of YinzCam, a large-scale mobile wireless video service designed to enhance the experience of spectators at sports events.…
From ACM TechNews
Twins Separated at Birth: Cloud Computing and Hpc
Microsoft's Dan Reed is the director of the Cloud Computing Futures (CCF) organization, whose overall goal is the transformation of the way people construct and manage very large-scale computational resources. "The CCF story…
From ACM TechNews
Q&A: The Robot Wars Have Arrived
Brookings Institution fellow P.W. Singer says in an interview that the military's funding of robotics will have ramifications in areas that people are as yet unaware of. In response to a query about the likely effects that ubiquitous…
From ACM News
Software Tracks Tigers in 3D
New software developed with help from the Wildlife Conservation Society will allow tiger researchers to rapidly identify individual animals by creating a three-dimensional model using photos taken by remote cameras. The software…
From ACM News
Women Opt Out of Math/science Careers Because of Family Demands
Women tend to choose non-math-intensive fields for their careers — not because they lack mathematical ability, but because they want flexibility to raise children or prefer less math-intensive fields of science, reports a new…
From ACM News
Brain on a Chip?
How does the human brain run itself without any software? Find that out, say European researchers, and a whole new field of neural computing will open up. A prototype 'brain on a chip' consisting of a 300-neuron network and half…
From ACM TechNews
Berners-Lee: Semantic Web Will Have Privacy Built-In
World Wide Web Consortium director Sir Tim Berners-Lee says the Semantic Web will improve online privacy protection by allowing Internet users to control who can access their data. Researchers have warned that the combination…
From ACM News
Web 2.0 for the Real World
European researchers working on some of the most fundamental issues facing the future Internet paradigm have developed – in their spare time, no less – a mobile platform that brings some of the most powerful and compelling Web…
From ACM TechNews
How Ibm's Sprucing p Its 'social' Side
IBM researchers are exploring ways of using social computing to encourage greater collaboration among enterprise users in an effort to make it easier for businesses to share data. "Our perspective comes from business," says…
From ACM TechNews
Tech to Cure Crop Failure and Look Inside Einstein's Mind?
Technology will help solve some of the most pressing issues the world is facing, says ACM president and University of Southampton professor Dame Wendy Hall. Hall has co-written the Grand Challenges report on the economic, environmental…
From ACM TechNews
'I'm Here to Make You Feel Better'
Researchers are developing socially assistive robots that can provide therapy and support to people with cognitive and physical handicaps. One example is CosmoBot, a robot developed by AnthroTronix that provides language and…
From ACM TechNews
Web Founder Issues 'snooping' Warning
Web pioneer and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee says more protection is needed to prevent Internet snooping and ensure that sensitive data is not misused for commercial gain. "We must not…
From ACM TechNews
Ultra-Thin Chip Scaled For Wearable Electronics
Flexible wireless monitoring systems could become more wearable by using a new three-dimensional integration process developed by IMEC. The technology uses ultra-thin chip package (UTCP) interposers to test packaged thin dies…