Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
May 2011
From ACM TechNews
Toughening p Vulnerable Networks One Link at a Time
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology researchers have developed a computer model that shows how large technological networks can be significantly improved by making a few small changes to multiply the informational pathways.
From ACM TechNews
Foldable Display Shows No Crease After 100,000 Folding Cycles
Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology researchers have developed a prototype seamless display that folds in half without a noticeable crease in the middle.
From ACM TechNews
A World Full of Sensors
Researchers at Technische Universitat Darmstadt and the University of Kassel are collaborating on a joint research project aimed at developing sensors that receive, analyze, and send data.
From ACM TechNews
Hp Advances Next-Gen 'memristor' Memory Technology
Hewlett-Packard and University of California, Santa Barbara researchers have mapped out the basic chemistry and structure of what happens inside a memristor during its electrical operation.
From ACM News
Mars Landing Sites Narrowed Down to Final 4
After years of poring through images from space and debating where on Mars the next NASA rover should land, it comes down to four choices.
From ACM News
A Business Analytics Engine that Began with the Military
Big technology companies like Netflix and Facebook make clever use of the digital traces we leave online: their algorithms can make connections between data and then offer suggestions about movies to watch or people to get…
From ACM News
New Ways to Exploit Raw Data May Bring Surge of Innovation, a Study Says
Math majors, rejoice. Businesses are going to need tens of thousands of you in the coming years as companies grapple with a growing mountain of data.
From ACM News
Pressure Mounts on Western Washington University to Preserve Computer Science Department
The Washington Technology Industry Association and the Technology Alliance—two of the largest technology member organizations in the state—have joined the fight to preserve the computer science department at Western Washington…
From ACM News
Toward Faster Transistors
In the 1980s and '90s, competition in the computer industry was all about "clock speed"—how many megahertz, and ultimately gigahertz, a chip could boast. But clock speeds stalled out almost 10 years ago: Chips that run faster…
From ACM News
Google Lobbies Nevada to Allow Self-Driving Cars
Google, a pioneer of self-driving cars, is quietly lobbying for legislation that would make Nevada the first state where they could be legally operated on public roads.
From ACM News
How Bin Laden Emailed Without Being Detected By U.s.
Using intermediaries and inexpensive computer disks, Osama bin Laden managed to send emails while in hiding, without leaving a digital fingerprint for U.S. eavesdroppers to find.
From ACM News
Galileo Data Reveal Magma Ocean Under Jupiter Moon
New data analysis from NASA's Galileo spacecraft reveals a subsurface ocean of molten or partially molten magma beneath the surface of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io.
From ACM News
Quantum Calculations Can Make Atomic Clocks of the Future Far More Accurate
New calculations of how atoms swell when they’re warmed up can help make the next generation of atomic clocks 10 times more precise.
From ACM News
How to Control Complex Networks
At first glance, a diagram of the complex network of genes that regulate cellular metabolism might seem hopelessly complex, and efforts to control such a system futile.
From ACM News
Workplace Robots Need a Better View
Robotics pioneer Rodney Brooks says a new generation of industrial robots could be enabled by better machine vision.
From ACM News
Ralph Langner on Stuxnet, Copycat Threats
A year ago, Ralph Langner was plugging away in relative obscurity, doing security consulting work for the industrial control system industry in his Hamburg headquarters. Then along came Stuxnet, the first malware targeting…
From ACM News
Amusement Park Rides that Know When You're Scared
What would it feel like to ride on a roller-coaster that reacts to your emotional state? Visitors to amusement parks may soon be able to find out.
From ACM TechNews
Turning Crowds Into Computers
Researchers discussed the idea of building computers with human brains as the processing units at the recent CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
From ACM News
The Future Revealed in the Past
Over the past 30 years, designer, writer, researcher Bill Buxton has been collecting input and interactive devices whose design struck him as interesting, useful or important.
From ACM News
The Man Who Invented the Microprocessor
Ted Hoff saved his own life, sort of. Deep inside this 73-year-old lies a microprocessor—a tiny computer that controls his pacemaker and, in turn, his heart.
From ACM News
Engineers Gather, Asking What Makes the City Tick
It was the last Tuesday of the month, and, like clockwork, the geeks arrived in droves.
From ACM News
A Stitch in Time... at the Speed of Smartphones
Your grandmother's hobby is going high-tech. Amid sewing's pop-culture revival, makers of sewing machines are cutting no corners in their appeal to the next generation of seamstresses.
From ACM News
Seven Questions For Prith Banerjee, Hewlett-Packard's Head of Research
It's been about two months since Hewlett-Packard’s new CEO Léo Apotheker put the company on a new cloud-centric path as part of a big speech laying out a new strategy. But there haven't been a lot of specific announcements…
From ACM News
3-D Printers May Someday Allow Labs to Create Replacement Human Organs
The machine looks like the offspring of an Erector Set and an inkjet printer. The "ink" feels like applesauce and looks like icing. As nozzles expel the pearly material, layer by layer, you imagine the elaborate designs this…
From ACM TechNews
Forecast For Processing and Storing Ever-Expanding Science Data: Cloudy
Scientists that previously relied on time-shared access to high-performance computers to analyze large datasets are now turning to cloud-based services from the likes of Amazon and Microsoft.
From ACM TechNews
World's Servers Process 9.57zb of Data a Year
University of California, San Diego researchers estimate the world's 27 million business servers processed 9.57 zettabytes of information in 2008, with most of the information being "incredibly transient."
From ACM TechNews
College Grads Find Economy Improving, But Slowly
New U.S. graduates with bachelor's degrees will be hired at an increased rate of about 10 percent this year, the first increase in two years, according to a survey of 4,600 employers.
From ACM News
NASA's Dawn Captures First Image of Nearing Asteroid
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has obtained its first image of the giant asteroid Vesta, which will help fine-tune navigation during its approach. Dawn is expected to achieve orbit around Vesta on July 16, when the asteroid is about…
From ACM News
Technology vs. Terrorists
Advanced technologies, including stealth helicopters, helmet-mounted video cameras, and sophisticated data analysis, are helping find terrorists like Osama bin Laden and foil their deadly plans.
From ACM Opinion
Why Google Does Not Own Skype
So Microsoft is buying Skype for $8.5 billion, its biggest deal ever. It’s too soon to make a pronouncement on whether the purchase is an idiot move, a brilliant one, or just something in between. All the geniuses who ripped…