Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
May 2015
From ACM TechNews
Latest Self-Driving Google Car Heading to Public Streets
Google has announced plans to debut the latest version of its self-driving car on public roads this summer.
From ACM News
Decoding the Enigma of Satoshi Nakamoto and the Birth of Bitcoin
It is one of the great mysteries of the digital age.
From ACM Opinion
Google's Vint Cerf Warns Against Fragmentation of Internet
Internet pioneer Vinton G. Cerf warned Thursday that political and technological forces threaten universal access and integrity, which he described as the foundation of the Internet's value.
From ACM News
What a Dinosaur's Mating Scream Sounds Like
Two years ago, Sean Murray, a video-game developer from the town of Guildford, outside London, announced an ambitious game that he had been working on in secrecy with a small team: a fully explorable digital cosmos, called No…
From ACM News
OPALS Boosts Space-to-Ground Optical Communications Research
Ever wonder why stars seem to twinkle?
From ACM TechNews
How Cooperative Research Is Shaping the Future Internet
European researchers are working with Japanese colleagues to build a framework for testing new network technologies.
From ACM TechNews
Exploring a New Frontier of Cyber-Physical Systems: The Human Body
The U.S. National Science Foundation recently announced $8.75 million in awards to two programs developing state-of-the-art medical and cyber-physical systems.
From ACM TechNews
Cutting-Edge Method Breathes Life Into Complex 3D-Printed Objects
A team of U.S. and Chinese researchers has developed a technique for physically decorating three-dimensional surfaces with customizable color textures.
From ACM TechNews
The Golden Age of Quantum Computing Is Upon US (once We Solve the Tiny Problems)
IBM researchers recently announced a breakthrough in the quest to develop a functional quantum computer.
From ACM TechNews
The Computers Are Listening
The U.S. National Security Agency's use of automated speech recognition has been a well-guarded secret for years, although its use by the agency is widespread.
From ACM News
This Little 3D Printed Robot Cracks Combination Locks in 30 Seconds
Careful what you leave in your lockers, high school students and gym-goers.
From ACM News
Baidu's Artificial-Intelligence Supercomputer Beats Google at Image Recognition
Chinese search giant Baidu says it has invented a powerful supercomputer that brings new muscle to an artificial-intelligence technique giving software more power to understand speech, images, and written language.
From ACM News
'positive Train Control' Could Have Prevented U.s. Derailment
The investigation into the cause of a fatal train derailment in the U.S. city of Philadelphia this week has already yielded its first conclusion: it could have been prevented with technology.
From ACM News
Hadoop Corporate Adoption Remains Low: Gartner
For all the talk of Hadoop's potential to help companies leverage Big Data, corporate adoption remains low, a survey released today from Gartner Inc. found.
From ACM TechNews
IBM Demos Cmos Silicon Photonics
IBM researchers have demonstrated a fully integrated wavelength multiplexed complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) silicon photonics chip.
From ACM TechNews
Soft Robot to Swim Through Europa's Oceans
Cornell University researchers have received a nine-month, $100,000 grant to develop a soft, swimming robot that can explore other worlds.
From ACM TechNews
Ants' Movements Hide Mathematical Patterns
Spanish and U.S. researchers have proposed a mathematical model explaining how ants form their routes.
From ACM TechNews
Free Tool Reveals Mobile Apps Sending Unencrypted Data
A new program will allow people to test whether their mobile data is protected.
From ACM News
A First Big Step Toward Mapping the Human Brain
It's a long, hard road to understanding the human brain, and one of the first milestones in that journey is building a … database.
From ACM News
Robots, Hungry for Power, Are Too Weak to Take Over the World
Today's robots may just be too hungry and unfit to take over the world any time soon.
From ACM News
Rise of the Machines
Elon Musk busies himself building other people's futures.
From ACM News
Light and Sound Together Might Be Just-Right Wireless Solution
RF and laser technologies cancel out each other’s shortcomings.
From ACM News
Nasa Research Reveals Europa's Mystery Dark Material Could Be Sea Salt
NASA laboratory experiments suggest the dark material coating some geological features of Jupiter's moon Europa is likely sea salt from a subsurface ocean, discolored by exposure to radiation.
From ACM TechNews
New Device Could Greatly Improve Speech and Image Recognition
University of California, Riverside researchers have achieved a breakthrough which they say could improve speech- and image-recognition hardware.
From ACM TechNews
Electronic Security Tag For Protecting Valuable Shipments
Researchers at the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland say they have developed an electronic security tag that can be used to protect valuable shipments.
From ACM TechNews
Graphene Holds Key to Unlocking Creation of Wearable Electronic Devices
Researchers have developed a technique to embed transparent, flexible graphene electrodes into fibers commonly associated with the textile industry.
From ACM TechNews
7 Top Futurists Make Some Pretty Surprising Predictions About What the Next Decade Will Bring
The Huffington Post recently queried seven futurists about what the next decade of science and technology might hold.
From ACM TechNews
A Pioneering Facial Recognition Cane For the Blind
Students at Birmingham City University have developed a smart cane that uses facial recognition technology to enable the visually impaired to identify friends and family.
From ACM News
Long-Range Iris Scanning Is Here
An officer pulls someone over on the side of the highway.
From ACM TechNews
IEEE: Computing 'Earthquake' Needed as Scaling Stalls
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) Reboot Computing initiative plans to launch "an earthquake in the computing industry."