Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2010
From ACM News
Intel Prototypes Low-Power Circuits
The smaller a silicon transistor becomes, the more electrons it leaks. That can mean unreliable, battery-draining chips. Researchers at Intel have come up with a way of dealing with the problem that subverts the industry's strong…
From ACM News
.s. Cyber Command Prepped to Launch
Washingon's new U.S. Cyber Command is prepped and ready but is still waiting for Senate approval of its new commander before it can open for business.
From ACM TechNews
Network Gives Traffic Managers, Police Real-Time View of Road Conditions
University of Maryland researchers have developed the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System, a system that gives traffic managers and police in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia a real-time view…
From ACM News
Mini Generators Make Energy from Random Ambient Vibrations
Tiny generators developed at the University of Michigan could produce enough electricity from random, ambient vibrations to power a wristwatch, pacemaker or wireless sensor.
From ACM News
Sandia to Break Ground For New Computational Laboratories Building
Sandia National Laboratories is breaking ground for a new facility—the Combustion Research Computation and Visualization building, part of the Combustion Research Facility—at a ceremony Wednesday (March 24) in Livermore, CA. …
From ACM TechNews
Bias Called Persistent Hurdle For Women in Sciences
Cultural biases are still hindering the progress of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, according to an American Association of University Women report.
From ACM TechNews
Nine Prace Prototypes Are Available For Testing
Researchers from academia and industry have until April 11, 2010, to submit applications for an opportunity to test prototypes of potential future high-performance computing petascale systems.
From ACM TechNews
Cyber Warriors
Purdue University's Eugene Spafford says that cybercrime has evolved into a well-financed enterprise perpetrated by mature individuals and groups of professionals who have the tolerance, if not the support, of local governments…
From ACM TechNews
Wireless Controlled From the Cloud
IBM China Research Lab scientists have developed Wireless Network Cloud, a new architecture that shifts the signal-processing requirements of wireless networks from base stations into the cloud.
From ACM TechNews
Silicon Valley Loses Foreign Talent
Silicon Valley is losing more foreign-born executives, engineers, and scientists due to better opportunities in their native countries, tough U.S. immigration laws, and the high cost of living in California.
From ACM TechNews
Collaboration With IBM to Speed Up 'the Cloud'
Cornell University professor Hakim Weatherspoon and IBM researchers are studying the causes of data distortions and are developing ways for cloud computing applications to deal with them.
From ACM TechNews
A Swiss Army Knife For Analyzing Three-Dimensional Images
Howard Hughes Medical Institute computer scientists have developed V3D, a software suite that features tools for visualizing, analyzing, and measuring complex, three-dimensional biological and biomedical images.
From ACM TechNews
Mobile Learning with iPhone Now Possible
Peruvian and Belgian researchers have developed an open source mobile learning application that enables health-care workers to connect to the free learning platform Moodle with their iPhone or iPod.
From ACM News
Uk Promises
The U.K. Government has announced the creation of the new Institute for Web Science, to be headed by World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners Lee, and leading Web Science expert Professor Nigel Shadbolt.
From ICT Results
The Internet of Cars
An Internet of cars promises a road system designed around cooperative technology enabling each element of the traffic system—cars, drivers, traffic lights, signs—to cooperate proactively to create a safer, more efficient driving…
From ACM News
Academic Paper in China Sets Off Alarms in .s.
Wang Jianwei, a graduate engineering student in Liaoning, China, who was described as a potential cyberwarrior before the United States Congress this month, says he has simply been trying to find ways to enhance the stability…
From ACM News
National Free Software Coalition Formed in India
Delegates at the National Free Software conference in Bangalore, India, announced the formation of a national coalition, the National Free Software Movement of India.
From ACM TechNews
Frank Moss: Tech to Help Those Who Can't Help Themselves
Frank Moss, head of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says there are real opportunities in developing technology for disabled or disadvantaged people, and believes they will translate into great commercial…
From ACM News
Dismantling of Saudi-CIA Web Site Ilustrates Need For Clearer Cyberwar Policies
By early 2008, top U.S. military officials had become convinced that extremists planning attacks on American forces in Iraq were making use of a Web site set up by the Saudi government and the CIA to uncover terrorist plots in…
From ACM News
Big Brother at the Movies: Can They Really Do That?
When it comes to portraying Big Brother on the big screen, how close is Hollywood fiction to real-world fact?
Intercepting private cell phone calls. Deploying machines to do full-body and iris scans. Using Global Position System…From ACM News
Quantum Physics Leaps Into The Visible World
Scientists in California have done something astounding. They've shown that physical laws thought only to rule in the mysterious realm of atoms and electrons can also apply to stuff you can actually see.
Isaac Newton was pretty…From ACM TechNews
New Touch Screen Technology in Works
Carleton University professor Robert Biddle is one of 12 scientists working on the Digital Surface Software Application Network project, which is developing next-generation touch-screen technology.
From ACM TechNews
Pushing For Software Quality Assurance
In a recent Journal of Computer Science research article, "Resistance Factors in the Implementation of Software Process Improvement Project in Malaysia," the authors discussed reasons why people resist software quality assurance…
From ACM TechNews
Creating Apps Just For Cars
Ford Motor Co. is working with the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Microsoft to offer a computer science and engineering course in which Michigan students will work in small teams to design, build, and demonstrate automotive…
From ACM TechNews
Computer Scientists Create a Multilingual Search Engine
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid researchers have developed a multilingual search engine that can query a data repository written in Interlingua using questions formulated in any language and provide an answer in that same language…
From ACM TechNews
ACM Council on Women Honors Leader in Improving Cad Performance
ACM's Council on Women in Computing has named Pennsylvania State University computer science professor Mary Jane Irwin the 2010-2011 Athena Lecturer.
From ACM TechNews
U.s. Asks Colleges to Enhance the Nation's Internet Capacity
The U.S. government wants colleges and universities to help bring ultra high-speed Internet access to more communities. The proposal is part of a federal blueprint for broadband.
From ACM TechNews
Web Sites That Can Take a Punch
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a system to keep Web servers running even when they are under attack from cybercriminals.
From ACM TechNews
Women in It: How to Combat Misconceptions
Experts say the information technology (IT) industry needs to start appealing to women at a younger age to encourage more of them to choose it as a career.
From ACM News
New Spam Targeting Facebook sers Is Invisible to Most Virus Scans, Says Expert
Cyber-criminals are using fake e-mails to target Facebook users and deliver computer viruses that were being detected only by one-third of the 42 most common anti-virus products as of noon Thursday (March 18), says a leading…