Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2017
From ACM TechNews
Smart Healthcare ses Stats to Spot a Stumble
Researchers have developed a statistical scheme that detects when senior citizens or others need help after falling.
From ACM TechNews
Machine Learning Storms Into Climate Research
Climate change researchers are aggressively pushing for the incorporation of machine learning within their field.
From ACM Careers
How Youtube's Shifting Algorithms Hurt Independent Media
At the age of 21, David Pakman started a little Massachusetts community radio talk program.
From ACM TechNews
Explained: Neural Networks
Deep learning is a new name for the neural-networking approach to artificial intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
'indistinguishable Photons' Could nleash Quantum Computing
Researchers have developed a new way to generate indistinguishable photons.
From ACM TechNews
Tool Checks Computer Architectures, Reveals Flaws in Emerging Design
Researchers at Princeton University have discovered a series of errors in the RISC-V instruction specification that are leading to changes in the new system.
From ACM News
Locking Out the Hackers
New hardware, services are aimed at identifying malware before it has the chance to execute.
From ACM News
Don't Worry, Driverless Cars Are Learning From Grand Theft Auto
In the race to the autonomous revolution, developers have realized there aren't enough hours in a day to clock the real-world miles needed to teach cars how to drive themselves. Which is why Grand Theft Auto V is in the mix.
…From ACM News
A Chip Revolution Will Bring Better Vr Sooner Than You Think
David Kosslyn and Ian Thompson are the founders of a virtual reality company called Angle Technologies.
From ACM News
Robert Taylor, Innovator Who Shaped Modern Computing, Dies at 85
Taylor had the idea that led to the Arpanet, the forerunner of the Internet.
From ACM News
When Jean E. Sammet Learned to Code, Steve Jobs Was Still in Diapers
Sammet was the first female president of ACM,, created the computer language FORMAC, and was a key member of the committee that created COBOL.
From ACM TechNews
Your Phone's Power se Can Give Hackers an Opening
Researchers have shown even without a data cable, hackers can analyze a device's power needs to access users' private information.
From ACM TechNews
The Dark Secret at the Heart of AI
Some experts warn deep-learning artificial intelligence technologies cannot be adopted without reservations if their creators cannot understand how they reason.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Ray Swims sing High-Voltage Artificial Muscles
Researchers have developed a robotic ray that is propelled by soft, flapping wings made of dielectric elastomers, which bend when electricity is applied to them.
From ACM TechNews
AI Can Predict Heart Attacks More Accurately Than Doctors
Researchers have developed four computer-learning algorithms that significantly outperform American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for predicting heart attacks or strokes.
From ACM TechNews
4d Printing Gets Simpler and Faster
A team of researchers has developed a new approach that significantly simplifies and increases the potential of four-dimensional printing.
From ACM TechNews
Supercomputer Simulation Offers Peek at the Future of Quantum Computers
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in Switzerland have used the fifth-most powerful supercomputer in the world to simulate the behavior of a 45-qubit quantum computer.
From ACM News
Georg Gottlob Honoured with Lovelace Medal
Georg Gottlob been selected by the Awards Panel of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, as the 2017 winner of the Lovelace Medal.
From ACM News
We Know What You're Watching (even If It's Encrypted)
I stand firm in the opinion that it's my basic, human right to binge-watch six hours of trashy detective shows on a Friday night with a silent phone in my lap and a glass of wine in my hand.
From ACM News
Nasa Missions Provide New Insights Into 'ocean Worlds' in Our Solar System
Two veteran NASA missions are providing new details about icy, ocean-bearing moons of Jupiter and Saturn, further heightening the scientific interest of these and other "ocean worlds" in our solar system and beyond.
From ACM TechNews
An Algorithm That Hides Your Online Tracks With Random Footsteps
Steven Smith at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory has developed an algorithmic technique to thwart the collection of online users' browsing history. The algorithm conceals Web activity by pumping false traffic out of the user's home network…
From ACM TechNews
State Progress on K-12 Computer Science Ed Policies: 'we Have a Long Way to Go'
A new study from six organizations summarizes state-by-state surveys on U.S. computer science education policies for grades K-12. "There are simply not enough adequately trained people to fill the current need for . . . [computer…
From ACM TechNews
New Tools Needed to Track Technology's Impact on Jobs, Panel Says
New tools must be developed to track and measure the impact of artificial intelligence and automation on the U.S. job market, according to a report from an expert panel at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and …
From ACM TechNews
AI Programs Exhibit Racial and Gender Biases, Research Reveals
Researchers at the University of Bath and Princeton University have demonstrated an artificial intelligence tool that enables computers to interpret everyday language. Their study shows AI systems are digesting the deeply innate…
From ACM TechNews
Google Tests New Approach to Training Machine Learning Models
Google is testing a new collaborative machine-learning training method in which training data is diffused across millions of individual mobile devices instead of housed in datasets distributed across servers in the cloud.
From ACM News
That Fingerprint Sensor on Your Phone Is Not as Safe as You Think
Fingerprint sensors have turned modern smartphones into miracles of convenience.
From ACM News
Solar Storms Can Drain Electrical Charge Above Earth
New research on solar storms finds that they not only can cause regions of excessive electrical charge in the upper atmosphere above Earth's poles, they also can do the exact opposite: cause regions that are nearly depleted of…
From ACM News
A Lizard With Scales That Behave Like a Computer Simulation
The ocellated lizard—known as the jeweled lacerta in the pet trade—is born rusty brown with white polka dots.
From ACM News
Don't Use the Force, Luke, Use the Targeting Computer
Remember when Luke's running the trench in the Death Star, and he's about to fire his fateful shot, and at the last minute he decides to turn off the targeting computer and use the Force instead?
From ACM Opinion
Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We?
Just as ancient Greeks fantasized about soaring flight, today's imaginations dream of melding minds and machines as a remedy to the pesky problem of human mortality.