Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2016
From ACM News
.s. Directs Cyberweapons at Isis For First Time
The United States has opened a new line of combat against the Islamic State, directing the military’s six-year-old Cyber Command for the first time to mount computer-network attacks that are now being used alongside more traditional…
From ACM TechNews
For Michigan Professor, Computer Science Is Much More Than a Job
University of Michigan researchers have developed Sirius, an open platform for intelligent assistants such as Siri, Cortana, and Google Now.
From ACM TechNews
Regenstrief, Iu Study Finds Machine Learning as Good as Humans' in Cancer Surveillance
Researchers say algorithms and open source machine-learning tools are as effective as human reviewers in detecting cancer cases using data from free-text pathology reports.
From ACM TechNews
This Battery-Free Computer Sucks Power Out of Thin Air
The new Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform is a combination sensor and computing chip that can operate without a battery or a wired power source.
From ACM News
On This Waterfront, Robot Longshoremen Are the New Contenders
On one end of a dock at America's busiest port, tractor-trailers haul containers through dense, stop-and-go traffic. Sometimes they collide.
From ACM News
The Terminator and the Washing Machine
What the legendary matches between supercomputer Deep Blue and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov reveal about today’s artificial intelligence and machine learning fears.
From ACM Opinion
Scott Aaronson Answers Every Ridiculously Big Question I Throw at Him
Scott Aaronson has one of the highest intelligence/pretension ratios I’ve ever encountered.
From ACM News
Long After His Accident, Sam Schmidt Takes the Wheel Again Thanks to Project Sam
In the late 90s, Sam Schmidt had a promising career as an IndyCar driver, finishing fifth in the championship in 1999 after taking his first win in Las Vegas.
From ACM News
Atomic Memory Could Store S Library of Congress in a Dust Speck
It's a memory so small you'll forget where you left it. A new data storage system uses single atoms as computer bits, and could hold the contents of the US Library of Congress in a cube just 100 micrometres across—little more…
From ACM TechNews
sing Data to Explore Poetic Sound
Michigan State University researcher Sean Pue is studying the role of sound in modern South Asian poetry.
From ACM TechNews
Ready, Set, Think! Mind-Controlled Drones Race to the Future
The University of Florida last week hosted what it called the world's first drone race involving brain-computer interfaces.
From ACM TechNews
Feds Seek Public Input on the Future of Iot
The U.S. Department of Commerce is seeking public comment on the Internet of Things.
From ACM TechNews
A New Number Format For Computers Could Nuke Approximation Errors For Good
Computers have a persistent problem representing fractional numerical values, but high-performance computing scientist John Gustafson has proposed a solution.
From ACM TechNews
Computers That Crush Humans at Games Might Have Met Their Match: 'starcraft'
The next frontier for game-playing artificial intelligence could be the popular real-time strategy game "StarCraft."
From ACM TechNews
Why Early STEM Education Will Drive the .s. Economy
The Obama administration is continuing its campaign to advance math and science education.
From ACM News
Your Devices' Latest Feature? They Can Spy on Your Every Move
Your gadgets could be providing a window that any hacker could see right through to spy on you.
From ACM News
.s. Drops New York Fight with Apple After Gaining Access to Iphone
The U.S. Justice Department on Friday dropped its effort to force Apple Inc to help unlock an iPhone in a drug case in New York after someone provided authorities the passcode to access the device.
From ACM News
Computers That Crush Humans at Games Might Have Met Their Match: 'starcraft'
Humanity has fallen to artificial intelligence in checkers, chess, and, last month, Go, the complex ancient Chinese board game.
From ACM News
Europe Plans Giant Billion-Euro Quantum Technologies Project
The European Commission has quietly announced plans to launch a €1-billion (US$1.13 billion) project to boost a raft of quantum technologies—from secure communication networks to ultra-precise gravity sensors and clocks.
From ACM News
The Buzz of Your Skull Can Be sed to Tell Exactly Who You Are
You will know me by the buzz in my head. Biometric systems, which identify people by their physiological features, can use everything from ear shape to walking gait to tell who you are. Now we can add our skull’s ability to conduct…
From ACM News
New Maps Make Aftershocks Look Scarier Than the Main Quake
Aftershocks continue shaking the cities of Kumamoto, Japan and Muisne, Ecuador, almost a week after earthquakes rocked the two cities, frightening residents still reeling from the devastation and hampering relief efforts.
From ACM TechNews
Smartphone sers Are Redefining Privacy in Public Spaces
Tel Aviv University researchers say "dynamic visibility" diminishes privacy.
From ACM TechNews
Eth Researchers Print Wild Robotic Beings
Researchers from ETH Zurich, Disney Research Zurich, and Carnegie Mellon University are developing a software tool that lets users custom-design a robot on a computer.
From ACM TechNews
A Simple Way to Hasten the Arrival of Self-Driving Cars
Researchers have compiled a massive public dataset for self-driving vehicles culled from thousands of hours of data from a single stretch of road over a 12-month period.
From ACM TechNews
Russia, .s. Get Closer to niversal Memory
A joint effort by researchers from Russia, Nebraska, and Switzerland seeks a "universal" non-volatile memory composed of an ultra-thin ferroelectric film grown on silicon.
From ACM TechNews
Root Is a Little Robot on a Mission to Teach Kids to Code
Researchers from Harvard University's Wyss Institute say their robot is ready to teach both kids and adults how to code.
From ACM News
Gene-Editing Hack Yields Pinpoint Precision
A painstaking re-engineering of the CRISPR gene-editing system has given researchers the ability to alter individual DNA letters efficiently in a given gene.
From ACM News
Rules For Cyberwarfare Still nclear, Even as .s. Engages In It
When Defense Secretary Ashton Carter landed in Iraq for a surprise visit this week, he came armed with this news: More than 200 additional U.S. troops are headed to that country.
From ACM News
Hyper Vision
There is something special happening in a generic office park in an uninspiring suburb near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
From ACM TechNews
Self-Driving Cars, Meet Rubber Duckies
A course in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory aimed to create a fleet of duckie-adorned self-driving taxis.