Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2023
From ACM TechNews
Factsheet Highlights Gender Disparities in Innovation, Technology
On International Women’s Day, UNESCO released its latest #HerEducationOurFuture factsheet on gender equality in education, which cites persistent gender inequity in innovation and technology.
From ACM TechNews
Breakthrough Enables Perfectly Secure Digital Communications
A new algorithm hides sensitive information in a way that makes it impossible to detect anything has been concealed.
From ACM TechNews
Phone-Based Measurements Provide Information About the Health of Forests
An algorithm developed can measure tree diameter accurately and nearly five times faster than manual methods using low-cost, low-resolution smartphone LiDAR sensors.
From ACM TechNews
System Like 3D GPS Tracks Pill Cams Through GI Tract
Researchers have created a system that three-dimensionally tracks wireless ingestible devices throughout the gastrointestinal tract.
From ACM News
Suspicion Machines
Unprecedented experiment on welfare surveillance algorithm reveals discrimination.
From ACM News
Why the Floppy Disk Just Won't Die
A surprising number of industries, from embroidery to aviation, still use floppy disks. But the supply is finally running out.
From ACM News
Computer Science Researchers Lead the Defense Against the Dark Side of Tech
Bimal Viswanath and his colleagues amassed one of the largest datasets of AI-manipulated media in existence, to explore ways to detect and disarm weaponized media and toxic misinformation campaigns.
From ACM TechNews
The U.K. Is Using Drones to Prosecute Small-Boat Migrant Smugglers
The U.K. Home Office has used drones since late 2019 to monitor large areas of the English Channel.
From ACM TechNews
The Next Hot Housing Market Is in the Metaverse
Real estate builders and investors envision the metaverse as the new housing market, with contractors like Gabe Sierra offering virtual twins of the properties they develop and sell as sweeteners.
From ACM TechNews
Cutting Down on Instagram, TikTok Makes Teens Feel Better About Weight, Appearance, Says Study
Researchers found reducing time on social media could improve teens' self-esteem and body image.
From ACM News
Silicon Encoded Spin Qubits Achieve Universality
This newly emerging approach to quantum computation uses a novel silicon-based qubit device architecture to trap single electrons in quantum dots.
From ACM News
BetterHelp Barred by FTC From Sharing Data With Facebook
Company to settle allegations of data misuse for $7.8 million
From ACM News
Morris Tanenbaum, Who Helped Put Silicon in Microchips, Dies at 94
AT&T chemist found a better way to make transistors and helped manage the phone company's breakup.
From ACM News
As A.I. Booms, Lawmakers Struggle to Understand the Technology
Tech innovations are again racing ahead of Washington's ability to regulate them, lawmakers and A.I. experts said.
From ACM News
Using A.I. to Detect Breast Cancer That Doctors Miss
Hungary has become a major testing ground for A.I. software to spot cancer, as doctors debate whether the technology will replace them in medical jobs.
From ACM TechNews
Computers That Power Self-Driving Cars Could Drive Global Carbon Emissions
Researchers found the computational needs of self-driving cars could drive a significant increase in global carbon emissions.
From ACM TechNews
The Race to Beat Elon Musk to Put Chips in People's Brains
Companies like Paradromics and Synchron are competing with Elon Musk's Neuralink to design a brain implant that can communicate with computers.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Computers That Use 'Cat Qubits' May Make Fewer Errors
Researchers in France found so-called "cat qubits” (quantum bits) could reduce errors by quantum computers and accelerate the cracking of common encryption algorithms.
From ACM News
How Generative AI Could Lower Healthcare Costs, Speed Up Drug Development
In the future, specifying a drug target may be like sitting down to ChatGPT. After a few clicks, you'll have your novel therapeutic.
From ACM TechNews
The Race to Build AI-Powered Humanoids Is Heating Up
Robotics companies aim to create machines like startup Figure's just-unveiled Figure 01 bipedal humanoid robot to take on manual labor currently performed by humans.
From ACM TechNews
African Girls Can Code Initiative Builds Digital Skills, Momentum Towards Better Future
The African Girls Can Code Initiative holds coding camps to teach girls across Africa digital skills.
From ACM TechNews
Inside the Lab Growing Mushroom Computers
The Unconventional Computing Laboratory of the U.K.'s University of the West of England focuses on developing chemical or living computers that can interface with standard hardware and software.
From ACM News
How a Small Class at Caltech Helped Launch a Computer Revolution
Carver Mead will delivery his Kyoto Prize Presentation on March 15.
From ACM News
New Biden Cybersecurity Strategy Assigns Responsibility to Tech Firms
The policy document urges more mandates on the firms that control most of the nation's digital infrastructure, and an expanded government role to disrupt hackers and state-sponsored entities.
From ACM TechNews
How Doctors Use AI to Help Diagnose Patients
Artificial intelligence is enhancing physicians' diagnostic abilities to better identify patients who might be vulnerable to certain ailments.
From ACM TechNews
Solving Pompeii's Shattered Puzzles with Israeli Robot
A robot and algorithm developed at Israel's Ben-Gurion University will be used to reassemble 15,000 stones that had been part of elaborate frescoes in Pompeii before being destroyed.
From ACM TechNews
DHS' Biometric Rally Reveals Strong Capabilities Reliant on Camera Configuration
The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate released results from its 2022 Biometric Technology Rally to assess the accuracy of facial recognition algorithms and technologies.
From ACM TechNews
What Gucci, Others Learned from the Metaverse
Luxury retailers are capitalizing on the metaverse, with some using the virtual environment to identify trends and roll out new products.
From ACM News
White House Pushes for Mandatory Regulations, More Offensive Cyber Action under National Cyber Strategy
The plan touts many of the cybersecurity regulations already handed down for oil and natural gas pipelines, aviation, rail, and water systems, but it notes that more will be needed.
From ACM News
Building a Computer With a Single Atom
New studies broaden the perspectives on what constitutes a "computer" and how small a computational unit can be.