Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2010
From ACM TechNews
Robot Soon Able to Operate Inside Mri Scanners
Researchers at the University of Twente's MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology, in partnership with Radboud University, are working to develop robot-assisted surgery inside an MRI scanner.
From ACM TechNews
Babbage Nanomachine Promises Low-Energy Computing
Boston University researchers have created a nanoscale mechanical logic gate that could form the basis of tiny mechanical computers, descendants of Babbage's mechanical computers.
From ACM News
World Record: Julich Supercomputer Simulates Quantum Computer
University of Groningen and Julich Supercomputing Center researchers recently broke the world record for running software that can simulate the largest quantum computer system with almost 300,000 processors.
From ACM News
Robot Pruner May Cut Vineyard Labor Costs
Vino Farms is one of several farms in California that have invested in the development of a new machine that uses vision systems to mechanically prune vine spurs.
From ACM News
Two Programs Honored for Bringing nderrepresented Groups into Mathematics
The American Mathematical Society is honoring two programs that do an outstanding job of bringing more individuals from underrepresented minority groups into the mathematical sciences.
From ACM News
Citizen Science Contributes to Research
As technology increases the amount of new information available in various fields of science, researchers are turning to citizen scientists to unlock the data. The goal of citizen-science projects is to tap growing amounts of…
From ACM TechNews
Hp Demos Rollup Flexible Displays
Hewlett-Packard (HP) researchers have developed display screens that are printed on flexible plastic sheets of mylar material that could be easily rolled during the manufacturing process.
From ACM TechNews
Quantum Memories May Lead to Faster, More Secure Computers
Future communications networks could be based on quantum memories, which store data in a pulse of light and are the focus of research by University of Delaware professor Virginia Lorenz.
From ACM News
Rensselaer Launches the First .s. ndergraduate Web Science Degree Program
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has launched the nation's first undergraduate degree program devoted to the emerging interdisciplinary field of Web Science.
From ACM News
Paintable Electronics? Nist Studies Spray-On Manufacturing of Transistors
A multidisciplinary research team at NIST has found that an organic semiconductor may be a viable candidate for creating large-area electronics, such as solar cells and displays that can be sprayed onto a surface as easily as…
From ACM News
Copying Plant Anatomy Promises New Photovoltaics
University of Massachusetts Amherst chemists have identified a new polymer-based method inspired by plant anatomy and photosynthesis for creating photovoltaic devices.
From ACM News
Nist Racetrack Ion Trap Is a Contender in Quantum Computing Quest
Physicists at NIST have built and tested a device for trapping ions that potentially could process dozens at once with the most versatile control of any trap demonstrated to date, an advance towards the goal of building a practical…
From ACM News
Energy Dashboard Helps csd Campus Curb Appetite For Power
After an extensive period of testing, researchers this week have launched an Internet portal to showcase the real-time measurement and visualization of energy use on the University of California, San Diego campus.
From Communications of the ACM
Data Streaming 2.0
In today's real-time Web, data streaming applications no longer have the luxury of making multiple passes over a recorded data set.
From Communications of the ACM
Robots Gear Up For Disaster Response
After 15 years of research, robots for search and rescue may be nearing prime time.
From Communications of the ACM
Spies Among Us?
Governments' practice of electronic surveillance—and the growing use of warrantless wiretapping—has observers deeply concerned.