Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
May 2016
From ACM News
How Typography Can Save Your Life
After decades of silently shouting at the top of its lungs, the National Weather Service recently announced that it's going to stop publishing its forecasts and weather warnings in ALL CAPS.
From ACM News
500,000+ Data Scientists at Your Service
Members of the online community Kaggle push the limits of what Big Data can do.
From ACM News
Pentagon Turns to Silicon Valley For Edge in Artificial Intelligence
In its quest to maintain a United States military advantage, the Pentagon is aggressively turning to Silicon Valley’s hottest technology—artificial intelligence.
From ACM TechNews
Altering a Robot's Gender and Social Roles May Be a Screen Change Away
Pennsylvania State University researchers have found robots can keep their parts and still change their perceived gender.
From ACM TechNews
Tech Helps Teens Battle Asthma
Hyekyun Rhee, chair of nursing science at the University of Rochester's School of Nursing, has developed ways to help teens better manage their asthma.
From ACM TechNews
The Internet of Drones Is Coming
A significant barrier to commercial use of drones remains drone traffic density, and Robert J. Hall at AT&T Labs believes the answer lies in an "Internet of drones."
From ACM TechNews
Young Women in STEM Fields Earn p to One-Third Less Than Men
Women with Ph.D.s in science and engineering fields earn 31 percent less than men one year after they graduate, according to a new study.
From ACM TechNews
Ingestible Origami Robot
Researchers have demonstrated an origami robot that can unfold from a ingestible capsule and use external magnetic fields to navigate across the stomach wall.
From ACM News
2007 OR10: Largest Unnamed World in the Solar System
Dwarf planets tend to be a mysterious bunch. With the exception of Ceres, which resides in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, all members of this class of minor planets in our solar system lurk in the depths beyond…
From ACM News
Ibm's Watson Has a New Project: Fighting Cybercrime
IBM's Watson supercomputer hardly needs any more resumé-padding. It’s already wonJeopardy, written a cookbook, and dabbled in revolutionizing healthcare.
From ACM News
Microsoft’s Jeannette M. Wing: Basic Research Is 'the Foundation of American Prosperity and Progress'
Jeannette M. Wing Wednesday addressed the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on New Models for U.S. Science and Technology Policy,
From ACM News
This Turing Machine Should Run Forever nless Maths Is Wrong
One hundred and fifty years of mathematics will be proved wrong if a new computer program stops running. Thankfully, it's unlikely to happen, but the code behind it is testing the limits of the mathematical realm.
From ACM News
The Internet's Favorite Website
It's usually idle curiosity that drives me to Wikipedia.
From ACM TechNews
How Will People Interact with Technology in the Future?
Researchers from Bristol University's Bristol Interaction Group this week will present new research focusing on how people will interact with technology in the future.
From ACM TechNews
ACM Awards 2016 Gödel Prize to Inventors of Concurrent Separation Logic
ACM SIGACT and the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science on Monday awarded the creators of Concurrent Separation Logic the 2016 Gödel Prize.
From ACM TechNews
Holoflex: A Flexible Smartphone With a Holographic Display
The HoloFlex is a flexible smartphone with a holographic lightfield display that can simultaneously project glasses-free three-dimensional images to multiple users.
From ACM TechNews
The Lack of Women in Tech Is More Than a Pipeline Problem
The dearth of women in technology runs much deeper than a simple pipeline problem, writes venture capitalist Swati Mylavarapu.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Science Teachers Need Cybersecurity Education, Says CSTA Industry Group
ACM's Computer Science Teachers Association is crafting a cybersecurity certification program for computer science teachers.
From ACM News
Algorithm Clones Van Gogh's Artistic Style and Pastes It Onto Other Images, Movies
The nature of artistic style is something of a mystery to most people.
From ACM News
Hand Printing
Inexpensive three-dimensional printers are making prosthetic hands and arms more widely available.
From ACM News
Nasa's Kepler Mission Announces Largest Collection of Planets Ever Discovered
NASA's Kepler mission has verified 1,284 new planets—the single largest finding of planets to date.
From ACM News
Police and Tech Giants Wrangle Over Encryption on Capitol Hill
Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the district attorney of Manhattan, visited Washington late last month to argue his case on a pressing issue: encryption.
From ACM TechNews
Johns Hopkins Scientist Programs Robot For 'soft Tissue' Surgery
Researchers have developed the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot surgeon, which they say can adjust to the subtle movement of soft tissue to execute precise suturing.
From ACM TechNews
Crowdsourcing Algorithms Aim to Lift People From Poverty
A research team at the University of Illinois' Coordinated Science Laboratory has developed crowdsourcing algorithms that are helping lift people out of poverty.
From ACM TechNews
Free-Standing Two-Legged Robot Conquers Terrain
University of Michigan researchers report an unsupported bipedal robot can walk down steep slopes, through a thin layer of snow, and over uneven and unstable ground.
From ACM News
Gene Therapy's First Out-and-Out Cure Is Here
A treatment now pending approval in Europe will be the first commercial gene therapy to provide an outright cure for a deadly disease.
From ACM News
Stingrays, the Spy Tool the Government Tried, and Failed, to Hide
Stingrays, a secretive law enforcement surveillance tool, are one of the most controversial technologies in the government’s spy kit.
From ACM News
How Nasa's Next Big Telescope Could Take Pictures of Another Earth
Can NASA's next big space telescope take a picture of an alien Earth-like planet orbiting another star?
From ACM TechNews
A New Mobile Phone App For Grassroots Mapping
Researchers have developed a mobile phone application that uses geographic data to map landscapes and help humanitarian rescue workers in disaster-struck regions.
From ACM TechNews
Ais Are Starting to Learn Like Human Babies By Grasping and Poking Objects
A project at Carnegie Mellon University could enable artificial intelligences to learn in a more human way.