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
Your Phone Number Is All a Hacker Needs to Read Texts, Listen to Calls and Track You
Hackers have again demonstrated that no matter how many security precautions someone takes, all a hacker needs to track their location and snoop on their phone calls and texts is their phone number.
From ACM News
Apple, Fbi to Clash Again in Congress Over Encryption
Apple Inc and the FBI will return to Congress next week to testify before lawmakers about their heated disagreement over law enforcement access to encrypted devices, a congressional committee announced on Thursday.
From ACM News
Saturn Spacecraft Samples Interstellar Dust
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected the faint but distinct signature of dust coming from beyond our solar system.
From ACM TechNews
Obama Announces Computer-Science-For-All Initiative
The White House on Tuesday announced a slate of initiatives to advance education in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.
From ACM TechNews
Firefighters' Positioning System May Be sed to Monitor Walking Difficulty For Elderly
Researchers at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology have fine-tuned a positioning system used in fire rescue operations to collect data on people's foot movements.
From ACM TechNews
A Flexible Camera: A Radically Different Approach to Imaging
Columbia University researchers have developed a sheet camera that can be wrapped around objects to capture images that cannot be taken with conventional cameras.
From ACM TechNews
Autonomous Vehicles Cannot Be Test-Driven Enough Miles to Demonstrate Their Safety
A new study finds autonomous vehicles would have to drive at least hundreds of millions of miles to generate enough data to clearly demonstrate their safety.
From ACM News
Why a Chip That's Bad at Math Can Help Computers Tackle Harder Problems
Your math teacher lied to you. Sometimes getting your sums wrong is agood thing.
From ACM News
A Scheme to Encrypt the Entire Web Is Actually Working
Apple's move to encrypt your iPhone and WhatsApp's rollout of end-to-end encrypted messaging have generated plenty of privacy applause and law enforcement controversy. But more quietly, a small non-profit project has enacted…
From ACM News
Pair Programming Is Still Vibrant
The agile methodology has not grown quickly, but still has its adherents.
From ACM News
'this Is the Irs Regarding Your Tax Filings,' Says Trio of Overseas Robocallers
As if political campaigns, shady telemarketers hawking home security systems, and the rest of the usual suspects aren't generating enough automated phone calls, three separate groups have used April tax paranoia to fuel fraudulent…
From ACM News
Nasa Study Solves Two Mysteries About Wobbling Earth
Using satellite data on how water moves around Earth, NASA scientists have solved two mysteries about wobbles in the planet's rotation—one new and one more than a century old. The research may help improve our knowledge of past…
From ACM News
Moore's Law's Ultraviolet Savior Is Finally Ready
It is easy to take for granted the advancements in our mobile phones, wearable electronics, and other gadgets. But advances in computing rely on processes that the semiconductor industry cannot take for granted.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Scientists Present New Method to Reconstruct Signaling Pathways
Researchers have developed a new computational algorithm that reconstructs signaling pathways from a background network of molecular interactions.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers se Light and Sound Waves to Control Electron States
University of Oregon researchers have combined light and sound to control electron states in an atom-like system.
From ACM TechNews
Ames Laboratory Physicists Discover New Type of Material That May Speed Computing
Researchers say they have discovered a topological metal that could be used in futuristic energy-efficient computers with higher processor speeds and data storage.
From ACM TechNews
Experiencing nderwater Worlds, Virtually
Dhruv Jain led the creation of a scuba-diving simulator as part of his Amphibian virtual reality project.
From ACM News
Arms Control Groups rge Human Control of Robot Weaponry
Two international arms control groups on Monday issued a report that called for maintaining human control over a new generation of weapons that are increasingly capable of targeting and attacking without the involvement of people…
From ACM News
First Paralysed Person to Be 'reanimated' Offers Neuroscience Insights
A quadriplegic man who has become the first person to be implanted with technology that sends signals from the brain to muscles—allowing him to regain some movement in his right arm hand and wrist—is providing novel insights…
From ACM News
Silicon Valley Targets Smart Guns
In the 2012 movie Skyfall, James Bond brandishes his trusty sidearm, but with a high-tech twist: There's a sensor in the grip that reads palm prints so only he can fire it.
From ACM News
Senators' Encryption Measure Adds New Fuel to Apple-Fbi Debate
Technology and Internet companies would have to provide government agencies with access to data when served with a court order under long-awaited draft legislation crafted by two top senators.
From ACM TechNews
Soft Robotic Fingers Recognize Objects By Feel
Daniela Rus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has led the development of bendable, stretchable robot fingers that can lift and handle delicate objects.
From ACM TechNews
niversities Aren't Doing Enough to Train the Cyberdefenders America Desperately Needs
U.S. universities may not be doing enough to prepare the next generation of cyberdefenders, suggests the findings of a new analysis from CloudPassage.
From ACM TechNews
What Social Media Data Could Tell US About the Future
Northeastern University researchers are working with a group of scientists to develop a method to map how tweets about large-scale social events spread.
From ACM TechNews
Turing Tests and the Problem of Artificial Olfaction
The ability to reproduce scent artificially is surprisingly complex, and the work of the Weizmann Institute of Science's David Harel sheds light on the issue.
From ACM TechNews
How Microsoft Conjured p Real-Life Star Wars Holograms
In holoportation, a live hologram of a person is projected into another room for real-time interaction with whomever is present.
From ACM News
Rescued Japanese Spacecraft Delivers First Results from Venus
After an unplanned five-year detour, Japan's Venus probe, Akatsuki, has come back to life with a bang.
From ACM TechNews
Why Robots Need to Be Able to Say 'no'
Robots' blind obedience to human instructions can lead to harmful results and unwanted outcomes.
From ACM News
First Came the Breathalyzer, Now Meet the Roadside Police 'textalyzer'
We're all familiar with the Breathalyzer, the brand name for a roadside device that measures a suspected drunken driver's blood-alcohol level.
From ACM Careers
Billing by Millionths of Pennies, Cloud Computing's Giants Take In Billions
Imagine building an enormous beach resort, maybe the best in the world.