Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2018
From ACM TechNews
Google Offers New Way to Discover Books, Fun Way to Play With Words
Google recently launched a website to demonstrate the company's progress in semantic search.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists se Machine Learning to Speed Discovery of Metallic Glass
Researchers used artificial intelligence to discover and improve metallic glass faster and less expensively than previous methods.
From ACM TechNews
Weird Quantum Physics Is Key to Keeping Your Credit Card Safe
Researchers used quantum mechanics to develop a new method for generating random numbers to help shield sensitive information from eavesdropping.
From ACM TechNews
Invertebrates Inspire First Fully 3D Printed Active Materials for Robots
Researchers say they have developed the first fully three-dimensionally-printed dielectric elastomer actuators to perform high bending motion.
From ACM News
Who Wrote This?
The creators of malicious code could be unmasked by a machine learning de-anonymizer.
From ACM News
How 'Ninja Polymers' Are Fighting Killer Superbugs
In Ridley Scott's seminal blockbuster Blade Runner, humanity has harnessed bio-engineering to create a race of replicants that look, act and sound human—but are made entirely from synthetic material.
From ACM News
Machine Learning’s ‘Amazing’ Ability to Predict Chaos
In new computer experiments, artificial-intelligence algorithms can tell the future of chaotic systems.
From ACM News
OLPC’s $100 Laptop was Going to Change the World — Then it All Went Wrong
It was supposed to be the laptop that saved the world.
From ACM News
Fight for Tech Supremacy Intensifies as .S. Takes Aim at Chinese Companies
The United States undercut China's technology ambitions on Tuesday, advancing a new rule that would limit the ability of Chinese telecommunications companies to sell their products in this country.
From ACM News
Google's New AI Head Is So Smart He Doesn't Need AI
Google's heavy investment in artificial intelligence has helped the company's software write music and beat humans at complex board games. What unlikely feats could be next?
From ACM TechNews
Nanobots Glide Through Living Cells
Using small, rotating magnetic fields, researchers controlled nanomachines inside of living cells to trace the letters "N" and "M."
From ACM TechNews
sing an Algorithm to Reduce Energy Bills—Rain or Shine
Researchers have developed a residential energy scheduling algorithm by training three action dependent heuristic dynamic programming networks.
From ACM TechNews
Could Holey Silicon Be the Holy Grail of Electronics?
Researchers have verified a new material configuration to facilitate cooling of electronics using holey silicon.
From ACM TechNews
AN Helping Build Cheaper, Greener Electricity Networks
New smart electricity technology recently passed a major test in Australia by proving it can help manage renewable energy and battery storage for households and the electric grid.
From ACM TechNews
Thousands of Apps in Google Play Store May Be Illegally Tracking Children, Study Finds
An analysis of popular children's apps available on the Google Play Store has determined most may be in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
From ACM TechNews
.S. Army Develops Face Recognition Technology That Works in the Dark
A new machine learning and artificial intelligence technique generates a visible face image from a thermal image of a person's face taken at night.
From ACM News
20 Entangled Qubits Bring the Quantum Computer Closer
In 1981, Richard Feynman suggested that a quantum computer might be able to simulate the evolution of quantum systems much better than classical computers. Except for several proof-of-principle experiments, no working quantum…
From ACM News
Robots Ride to the Rescue Where Workers Can't Be Found
When Zbynek Frolik needed new employees to handle surging orders at his cavernous factories in central Bohemia, he fanned advertisements across the Czech Republic. But in a prosperous economy where nearly everyone had work, there…
From ACM News
Europe's New Online Privacy Rules Could Protect U.S. Users Too
The European Union is preparing to implement sweeping privacy rules next month, but these new protections of individuals' information may set a new standard around the world—including in the U.S.
From ACM TechNews
UW Researchers Pioneer Way for Ordering Laundry Detergent with 3D Printing
Researchers have developed a three-dimensional-printing method that can monitor laundry detergent use, and place an order when the supply is running low.
From ACM TechNews
Making Custom Qubits by Pushing Together Two Individual Atoms
Researchers have used laser beams to manipulate a sodium atom and a caesium atom into a single, asymmetrical molecule, making it potentially useful for quantum computing.
From ACM TechNews
Deep Learning Transforms Smartphone Microscopes Into Laboratory-Grade Devices
Deep learning can discern and enhance microscopic details in smartphone photos, with the potential to transform applications in global health, telemedicine, and medical diagnostics.
From ACM News
Seeding a Level Playing Field for 'Dr. AI'
Algorithms must be trained on current health data to be useful.
From ACM News
In Memoriam: Burton J. Smith 1941–2018
Smith was well-known as a leader in high-performance computer architecture and programming languages for parallel computers.
From ACM News
AI Chips May Give You a Real Reason to Upgrade Your Smartphone
You've likely seen artificial intelligence technology spread into apps, devices and services, doing things like recognizing your friends' faces in photos and endowing smart speakers with human-sounding voices.
From ACM News
Lawmakers Question FBI Director on Encryption
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing FBI Director Christopher Wray on the bureau's efforts to unlock encrypted devices after a critical watchdog report.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Teach Computers How to Analyze Brain Cells
Researchers at the San Francisco-based Gladstone Institutes are studying whether computers can be trained to identify structures in unstained cells.
From ACM TechNews
Computer-Simulated Soybeans
Washington University in St. Louis researchers have developed a simulation to guide farmers on soybean-planting strategies.
From ACM TechNews
New Technology Could Wean the Battery World Off Cobalt
Scientists are working to build cathodes for batteries that do not rely on cobalt.
From ACM TechNews
How to Catch a Fish Genome With Big Data
Researchers have assembled an annotated genome of the California Yellowtail for the first time.