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 News
Students Help to Bring the Internet to Rural Africa
Residents of rural Kenya now have e-mail accounts and Internet access thanks in part to the work of University of Michigan engineering students who enabled satellite-based service at three locations there. Their work was supported…
From ACM TechNews
Software-Intensive Systems Set to Dominate the Computer Market
Universidad Politecnica de MadridSoftware-intensive systems have become the cornerstone of Europe's most competitive industries and will soon dominate the computer market, concludes a report from the Spanish Software and Services…
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Discover a Potential On-Off Switch For Nanoelectronics
Berkeley Lab News CenterResearchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Columbia University have demonstrated that electrical resistance via a molecular junction can be turned "on" orView…
From ACM News
Despite Layoffs, Microsoft Holding Firm on H-1bs
Citing their "crucial contributions to Microsoft's innovation successes," Microsoft said it will not significantly change its employment practices regarding immigrant workers with H-1B visas. The detailed response by General…
From ACM News
A New Vision For Scientific Visualizations
VisTrails, a suite of visualization tools developed by Juliana Freire and Claudio Silva, both associate professors of computer science at the University of Utah, simplifies the creation of complex visualizations based on large…
From ACM TechNews
Lack of Ability Does Not Explain Women's Opting Out of Math-Intensive Science Careers
American Psychological AssociationReasons for women's underrepresentation in math-heavy science careers other than a lack of mathematical ability were uncovered by a study conducted by Cornell University researchers. The study…
From ACM TechNews
What Will It Take to Increase Hispanics in Stem? Money, Of Course
Diverse OnlineThe National Science Foundation (NSF) recently asked Hispanic-serving institutions at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities' Capitol Forum for advice on how to increase the number of Latinos in science…
From ACM TechNews
IBM Tries to Tackle Nanotube Chip Cooling
Network WorldIBM researchers are exploring ways to improve heat management in carbon nanotube transistors to prevent the devices from self destructing. IBM's Phaedon Avouris says the researchers have discovered ways of measuring…
From ACM TechNews
Cards on the Table: Low-Cost Tool Spots Software Security Flaws During Development Process
NCSU NewsNorth Carolina State University (NCSU) computer security experts have developed Protection Poker, a new risk management tool that helps software developers find security vulnerabilities in their programs early in the…
From ACM TechNews
This Internet Fix Is No Pipe Dream
InfoWorldThe Internet's security problems could be corrected by exploiting existing standards and protocols for Web services, security, identity, and authentication, writes Roger A. Grimes. Such protocols include Web Services…
From ACM TechNews
Knowing When to Fold: Engineers Use 'nano-Origami' to Build Tiny Electronic Devices
MIT NewsMassachusetts Institute of Technology researchers are developing nano-origami, a new technique that enables engineers to fold nanoscale materials into simple three-dimensional (3D) structures. Nano-origami could be used…
From ACM TechNews
Can Virtual Teachers Plug the Educational Divide?
Newcastle UniversityNewcastle University professor of educational technology Sugata Mitra believes that introducing more technology to the classroom is the key to eliminating inadequate learning opportunities worldwide. "There…
From ACM TechNews
Oak Ridge Explores Cybots
Government Computer NewsThe Ubiquitous Network Transient Autonomous Mission Entities (UNTAME) program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is working to develop technology that will lead to an army of software robots, dubbed cybots…
From ACM CareerNews
Tech Companies Pledge to Deal With Shortage of Women Workers
By 2010, there will be an estimated shortfall of 300,000 qualified engineers working in Europe's IT sector. At the same time, fewer than one in five computer scientists in Europe are female. In an effort to reverse both of these…
From ACM News
Data Travels Six Times Faster in the Clouds
The National Center for Data Mining (NCDM) at the University of Illinois at Chicago established a cloud computing system that can quickly compile data from widely geographically distributed data centers across high performance…
From ACM TechNews
Excited Atoms Advance Quantum Computing
National Science FoundationThe dream of quantum computing has come a step closer to reality through National Science Foundation-funded research into atomic manipulation. Scientists led by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor…
From ACM TechNews
ICANN President to Step Down
IDG News ServiceICANN president and CEO Paul Twomey will step down at the end of the year, the organization announced. Twomey, who has led the organization since 2003, told the ICANN board that he does not want to renew hisView…
From ACM TechNews
Cognitive Radio Helps Organize Ad Hoc Emergency Services Network
University of TwenteResearchers at the University of Twente (UT) in the Netherlands have developed an emergency communications system using cognitive radio technology that will be able to borrow free space from other frequency…
From ACM News
Math Problems + Video Games = Learning
The Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center in Picatinny, N.J., and the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center at Fort Monmouth, N.J., are using a U.S. Department of Defense-sponsored…
From ACM News
Robotic Computer Controlled Only by Gestures
Frederic Kaplan at the Swiss Federal Institutes in Lausanne has designed and built the QB1 computer, a PC-based robot that plays music and games and is operated entirely through gestures.
From ACM TechNews
The Real High-Tech Immigrant Problem: They're Leaving
New York TimesLanguage in the U.S. bank bailout legislation that discourages banks from recruiting skilled foreign workers on work visas has re-ignited the controversy over the hiring of foreign high-tech workers. Duke University…
From ACM TechNews
Indian Colleges to Compete in IBM's 'Blue Battle'
EE Times IndiaIBM has launched IBM Blue Battle, a technology competition for 25 Indian engineering colleges that offers students the opportunity to obtain hands-on experience with high-end technologies and IT tools as they develop…
From ACM TechNews
Robots That Monitor Emotions of Asd Children
ExplorationVanderbilt University researchers have developed a system that enables robots to monitor a child's emotional state, potentially leading to robotic playmates that help autistic children learn social skills. Vanderbilt…
From ACM TechNews
Commerce Chief Faces 5 Internet Emergencies
Network WorldAssuming former Washington Gov. Gary Locke (D) is confirmed as President Obama's Commerce Secretary, he will need to immediately begin addressing a number of issues related to Internet infrastructure. For starters…
From Communications of the ACM
Betting on Ideas
Advanced computational models are enabling researchers to create increasingly sophisticated prediction markets.
From Communications of the ACM
Crowd Control
Researchers are turning to computers to help us take advantage of our own cognitive abilities and of the wisdom of crowds.
From Communications of the ACM
The Evolution of Virtualization
Virtualization is moving out of the data center and making inroads with mobile computing, security, and software delivery.
From Communications of the ACM
A Difficult, Unforgettable Idea
On the 40th anniversary of Douglas C. Engelbart's "The Mother of All Demos," computer scientists discuss the event's influence — and imagine what could have been.