Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
May 2010
From ACM TechNews
'digital Genome' Safeguards Dying Data Formats
European researchers have deposited a "digital genome" time capsule inside a data storage facility known as the Swiss Fort Knox, which contains a blueprint that future generations can use to read data stored using obsolete technology…
From ACM TechNews
Hp Researchers Say Manure Could Help Power Data Centers
Hewlett-Packard researchers have proposed a biogas recovery system that converts livestock waste into methane, which can be used as fuel to generate electricity for data centers.
From ACM TechNews
Engineer Says Robotics Can Use a Woman's Touch
Texas A&M at College Station computer science professor Robin Murphy creates rescue robots designed to slither through collapsed buildings, fly over wildfires, and check the integrity of a bridge from underwater.
From ACM TechNews
Teaching Robots Some Manners
People are more likely to adapt to and use robots if they behave more like humans, even if that means they operate less efficiently.
From ACM TechNews
Virtual Reality sed to Transfer Men's Minds Into a Woman's Body
Barcelona University scientists recently conducted an experiment in which they used virtual reality to transfer men's minds into a woman's body.
From ACM TechNews
Giving New Meaning to 'smart Car'
McMaster University computer and software engineers are studying how one IBM multicore processor can be used to connect a vehicle's automotive systems.
From ACM News
As Attention Wanders, Rethinking the Autopilot
A captain returned to the cockpit after taking a bathroom break and found the first officer facing away from the instruments and talking to a flight attendant. Unnoticed was the fact that the autopilot had disconnected and the…
From ACM News
Software that Learns By Watching
Overworked and much in demand, IT support staff can't be in two places at once. But software designed to watch and learn as they carry out common tasks could soon help--by automatically performing the same jobs across different…
From ACM News
Illinois Institute of Technology to Provide Apple Ipads to ndergraduates
Illinois Institute of Technology will provide all incoming, first-year undergrads with Apple iPads as part of an initiative to integrate new technologies into the classroom and foster educational innovation.
From ACM News
Nanotech Microlens Could Lead to Better Infrared Satellite Imaging Technology
Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a nanotech "microlens" that uses gold to boost the strength of infrared imaging and could lead to more powerful satellite cameras and night-vision devices.
From ACM News
Fantastic Journey to Next-Generation Virtual Reality Cave
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received a grant to develop the "next-generation" CAVE virtual environment, a 3-D research tool for use in science, industry and other applications.
From ACM News
Advancing the Nuclear Enterprise Through Better Computing
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are merging decades of nuclear energy and safety expertise with high-performance computing to effectively address a range of nuclear energy- and security-related challenges.
From ACM News
Duke to Shut senet Server, A Piece of Internet History
Duke University this week will shut down its Usenet server, which provides access to a worldwide electronic discussion network of newsgroups started in 1979 by two Duke graduate students.
From ACM News
Machines That Learn Better
New mathematics will make it much easier to build machine-learning systems that tackle a wider range of problems.
From ACM News
Mathematicians Solve 140-Year-Old Boltzmann Equation
Two University of Pennsylvania mathematicians have found solutions to a 140-year-old, 7-dimensional equation that were not known to exist for more than a century despite its widespread use in modeling the behavior of gases…
From ACM News
Nsf Awards STEM Grant to Salisbury niversity
Salisbury University is working to increase graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, with the help of a $996,303 National Science Foundation grant.
From ACM News
Rensselaer Joins Web Science Trust Network of Laboratories
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been selected to join a new international network of prestigious world-class research laboratories to support the growing field of Web science research and education programs.
From ACM TechNews
Physicists se Location to Guarantee Security of Quantum Messages
UCLA researchers have developed a type of quantum cryptography, which guarantees that only a person at a certain location can read an encrypted message.
From ACM TechNews
Lsu Scientists Develop New Efficiency Software
Louisiana State University professors Supratik Mukhopadhyay and S.S. Iyengar have developed software that can monitor systems and use the data it collects to make decisions on what to do next.
From ACM News
At Youtube, Adolescence Begins at 5
Early this year, the most popular YouTube video of all time--a 2007 clip of a British toddler gleefully biting the finger of his older brother--was supplanted by a brash newcomer.
From ACM TechNews
Junior, the Robotic Car, Learns to Slide Park
The autonomous car that the Stanford Racing Team developed for the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007 is now capable of parking itself from an accelerated, reverse position then suddenly braking and spinning 180 degrees.
From ACM TechNews
Software Improves Rehabilitation Techniques
Clear and simple visualizations of biomechanical data could improve rehabilitation after a stroke, accelerate the recovery from joint replacements, and prevent older people from falling, according to United Kingdom researchers…
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Examine Real-Time Search Behavior
Penn State University professor Jim Jansen recently conducted a study to identify the characteristics of users who are looking for real-time content.
From ACM TechNews
Nanotube Transistor Will Help US Bond With Machines
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have developed a transistor, which they say could be a step toward making prosthetic devices that can be wired directly into a person's nervous system.
From ACM News
The Rover's All Right
Oregon State University students are building the Oregon State Wireless Active Learning Device, a remote-controlled Mars rover that features an extendable arm and a pan-tilt head with a video camera and GPS device.
From ACM TechNews
New Platform Creates Shortcut For Field Data Analysis
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed the Knowledge Acquisition Ubiquitous Agent Infrastructure, a framework for gathering and analyzing data from mobile devices without the need for central repositories or…
From ICT Results
Using Artificial Intelligence to Analyze Multimedia Content
The media produce a glut of material daily. Refining that ore into the gold of useful information requires new approaches. European researchers have now made automated multimedia analysis much smarter.
From ACM News
Amd and Bgca to Offer Game Technology Program to Hundreds of Youth
The AMD Foundation has awarded a $115,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to implement Club Tech: Game Tech, a digital game development program, in four new Boys & Girls Clubs across the United States.
From ACM News
Japanese Couple First in the World to Be Wed By a Robot
A Japanese professor of robotics and his bride were the first couple in the world officially wed by a robot.
From ACM News
Computers Could Make Better Drugs
Using the NSF-funded Ranger supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, University of Texas at Austin professor Pengyu Ren is working to develop faster, cheaper ways to search for new drugs.