Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2012
From ACM News
Iraq Emerges From Isolation as Telecommunications Hub
Iraq, cut off from decades of technological progress because of dictatorship, sanctions and wars, recently took a big step out of isolation and into the digital world when its telecommunications system was linked to a vast new…
From ACM News
Artificial Intelligence Could Be on Brink of Passing Turing Test
One hundred years after Alan Turing was born, his eponymous test remains an elusive benchmark for artificial intelligence. Now, for the first time in decades, it's possible to imagine a machine making the grade.
From ACM News
Tina Seelig
Stanford University’s Technology Ventures leader discusses tools to enhance creativity, how entrepreneurs can create ingenious products more efficiently, and ways that educators unwittingly stifle innovation.
From ACM TechNews
WM Discovery Advances Graphene-Based Electronics
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researchers have discovered a new carbon-based material that could lead to the next generation of electronics.
From ACM TechNews
Controversial Quantum Computer Beats Factoring Record
Chinese researchers recently used a process called adiabatic computing to find the prime factors of the number 143, beating the previous record for a quantum computer of 21.
From ACM TechNews
Ghent niversity and Imec Report Open Source Software Release of Ipkiss
Researchers at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center and Ghent University recently launched IPKISS, a generic and modular open source software framework for the parametric design of photonic integrated components and circuits…
From ACM News
Simulating Tomorrow's Chips
Most computer chips today have anywhere from four to 10 separate cores, or processing units, which can work in parallel, increasing the chips' efficiency. But the chips of the future are likely to have hundreds or even thousands…
From ACM News
Secret Computer Code Threatens Science
Modern science relies upon researchers sharing their work so that their peers can check and verify success or failure.
From ACM News
How Much Is a Tweet Worth?
The question has an almost koan-like quality. And yet at a time when the ranks of billion-dollar social-media companies keep growing (Instagram being the latest), it's a good time to ask about the value of the services they provide…
From ACM News
Facebook's Telescope on Human Behavior
One way to describe Facebook is as the most extensive data set on human social behavior that ever was.
From ACM News
A Ballooning Megabyte Budget
Everyone knows how long a minute is.
From ACM TechNews
Building a Smarter Forest
B.S. Abdur Rahman University computer scientists M.P. Sivaram Kumar and S. Rajasekaran recently published a research paper that says the existing methods for preventing and extinguishing forest fires are inefficient.
From ACM TechNews
Toward a Modular Defense Against Hackers
Lehigh University professor Gang Tan has developed automated techniques to scan for errors in large software systems.
From ACM Opinion
Web Freedom Faces Geatest Threat Ever, Warns Google's Sergey Brin
The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the creation of the Internet three decades ago are under greater threat than ever, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
From ACM News
The Technology That Allowed the Titanic Survivors to Survive
More than 1,500 people died in the sinking of the Titanic, but more than 700 survived. Those who did owed their escape to the newest communications technology of the time: wireless telegraphy.
From ACM TechNews
Novel Coding Technique Patented By A*star Researchers
A*STAR Data Storage Institute researchers have developed an algorithm for correcting errors that occur when information is stored and read out incorrectly.
From ACM News
Quantum Computing: Is It Possible, and Should You Care?
What is a quantum computer and when can I have one?
From ACM News
How to Handle Asteroid Threats
How do you solve a problem like Apophis?
From ACM News
Pentagon Eyes Augmented Reality Displays
The Defense Department has reportedly ordered augmented-reality displays from startup Innovega, only a week after Google disclosed its own augmented-reality project.
From ACM TechNews
Asimov's Robots Live on Twenty Years After His Death
In the two decades since the passing of science fiction author Isaac Asimov, his concept of robots programmed to meet certain safety standards has become a touchstone for artificial intelligence researchers.
From ACM TechNews
Secrets of App Store Revealed By Artificial Life Forms
University College London researchers Soo Ling Lim and Peter Bentley have developed a simulation of the Apple App Store to study how it works.
From ACM TechNews
Webrtc Puts Video Chats All in the Browser
The Web Real Time Communication (WebRTC) standard is expected to gain widespread use once it is mature, according to technology observers.
From ACM News
A Quantum Network Built with Two Atoms and Fiber Optic Cable
In an ordinary computer network, data in the form of binary numbers are transferred from one machine (node) to another via some sort of electronic signal, either electrical or optical.
From ACM News
Israel's Rocket-Hunting Ace Got His Start Playing Warcraft
While many of the boys in Idan Yahya's high school class were buffing up and preparing themselves for selection into elite combat units, this gawky teenager was spending "a lot of time" playing Warcraft—the real-time strategy…
From ACM News
Hype Hangs Over Dropbox
Dropbox Inc. followed the Internet start-up playbook to a tee last year.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Scientists Build Computer sing Swarms of Crabs
Kobe University researchers have built a billiard ball computer using soldier crabs.
From ACM TechNews
Mu Researchers Find Identical Dna Codes in Plant Species Providing Insights Into Plant and Animal Evolution
University of Missouri researchers recently solved a biological mystery by using a computer algorithm to find identical DNA sequences in different plant and animal species.
From ACM TechNews
Cisco, Juniper Among New Software-Defined Networking Research Center's Founders
A new research center is developing a comprehensive intellectual framework for software-defined networking.
From ACM News
Humans vs. Robots: Who Should Dominate Space Exploration?
The most recent footprints on the moon are 40 years old, and the next artificial mark on the lunar surface will probably be made by a robot’s wheels rather than human soles.
From ACM News
Law Allows Creationism to Be Taught in Tenn. Public Schools
A bill that allows Tennessee public school teachers to teach alternatives to mainstream scientific theories, such as evolution, will become law this month after the governor refused to sign or veto the measure.