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Communications of the ACM

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The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.

May 2017


From ACM TechNews

Machine Learning Algorithms Re-Create City in 3D ­sing Only Image Data

Machine Learning Algorithms Re-Create City in 3D ­sing Only Image Data

Varcity is a new platform that collects massive amounts of image data of a city and uses algorithms to automatically create a three-dimensional model of it.


From ACM TechNews

Imec Demonstrates Self-Learning Neuromorphic Chip That Composes Music

Imec Demonstrates Self-Learning Neuromorphic Chip That Composes Music

Researchers say they have created the world's first self-learning neuromorphic chip, based on OxRAM technology, that demonstrates the ability to compose music.


From ACM TechNews

Microrobots Inspired By Nature

Microrobots Inspired By Nature

Researchers have developed microrobots that mimic the rowing action of the cilia present in the single-celled paramecium.


From ACM News

What This Apple-Picking Robot Means For the Future of Farm Workers

What This Apple-Picking Robot Means For the Future of Farm Workers

Robots are replacing human workers at a faster pace than any other point in history. Most of these robots are in factories, but a new kind of mechanized worker has hit apple orchards.


From ACM News

A Chinese Genome Giant Sets Its Sights on the ­itimate Sequencer

A Chinese Genome Giant Sets Its Sights on the ­itimate Sequencer

The world's largest genetics research center isn't at Harvard or Stanford or even the NIH. It's a 20-mile drive from Hong Kong International Airport, in the bustling Chinese city of Shenzhen.


From ACM News

Vint Cerf on His 'love Affair' with Tech and What’s Coming Next

Vint Cerf on His 'love Affair' with Tech and What’s Coming Next

The father of the Internet looks back at the last 50 years, and ahead to what faces IT.


From ACM News

Patching the Electric Grid

Patching the Electric Grid

Electric grids worldwide are increasingly vulnerable to attack as new technologies like smart meters and analytical software are added to them, with mature systems like North America's at particular risk, according to the World…


From ACM News

Bigger Is Better: Quantum Volume Expresses Computer's Limit 

Bigger Is Better: Quantum Volume Expresses Computer's Limit 

The race to build the first useful quantum computer continues apace. And, like all races, there are decisions to be made, including the technology each competitor must choose.


From ACM TechNews

Advancing Cancer Immunotherapy With Computer Simulations and Data Analysis

Advancing Cancer Immunotherapy With Computer Simulations and Data Analysis

Researchers have developed a unique mathematical model to probe interactions between prostate tumors and common cancer immunotherapies.


From ACM TechNews

Google's AI Invents Sounds Humans Have Never Heard Before

Google's AI Invents Sounds Humans Have Never Heard Before

Google researchers have found a way to use artificial intelligence to produce entirely new sounds.


From ACM TechNews

Disney Research Transforms Movie-Quality Animations For Interactive Viewing

Disney Research Transforms Movie-Quality Animations For Interactive Viewing

Disney researchers say they have developed a process that transforms high-resolution animated content into a novel video format to enable immersive viewing.


From ACM TechNews

Sdsc's Comet Helps Replicate Brain Circuitry to Direct a Realistic Prosthetic Arm

Sdsc's Comet Helps Replicate Brain Circuitry to Direct a Realistic Prosthetic Arm

Researchers used the San Diego Supercomputer Center's Comet system in applying a novel algorithm to replicate neural pathways for controlling limb movement.


From ACM News

Your Face Can Get You More Than Just Toilet Paper in China

Your Face Can Get You More Than Just Toilet Paper in China

Now a number of female students at one of the country's top universities can use their face to open doors, according to news reports.


From ACM News

Solid-State Batteries to Support the Growth of Iot

Solid-State Batteries to Support the Growth of Iot

Compared to lithium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries don't have the potential to burn or explode, and they can recharge via energy harvesting.


From ACM News

Nasa Asks Scientific Community to Think on Possible Europa Lander Instruments

Nasa Asks Scientific Community to Think on Possible Europa Lander Instruments

NASA is asking scientists to consider what would be the best instruments to include on a mission to land on Jupiter's icy moon, Europa.


From ACM News

Should the Government Keep Stockpiling Software Bugs?

Should the Government Keep Stockpiling Software Bugs?

As the dust settles from the global ransomware attack that has crippled systems in more than 150 countries since Friday, the U.S. government's shadowy process for collecting and disclosing software vulnerabilities is again under…


From ACM TechNews

How to Make Fully Homomorphic Encryption 'practical and ­sable'

How to Make Fully Homomorphic Encryption 'practical and ­sable'

The U.S. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity has awarded Galois $1 million to make fully homomorphic encryption available to programmers.


From ACM TechNews

The Cybersecurity Risks ­.s. Election Systems Face Heading Into the 2018 Elections

The Cybersecurity Risks ­.s. Election Systems Face Heading Into the 2018 Elections

Cybersecurity experts are warning of U.S. voting systems' vulnerability to cyberthreats going into the 2018 midterm and 2020 presidential elections.


From ACM TechNews

Virtual Top Hats Allow Swarming Robots to Fly in Tight Formation

Virtual Top Hats Allow Swarming Robots to Fly in Tight Formation

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a team of autonomous flying robots that do not collide or undercut each other.


From ACM TechNews

Scientists Propose Better Battery System For Smart Home ­se

Scientists Propose Better Battery System For Smart Home ­se

Researchers have proposed a novel programming solution to optimize power consumption in batteries for use in smart homes.


From ACM TechNews

The Bizarre Quantum Test That Could Keep Your Data Secure

The Bizarre Quantum Test That Could Keep Your Data Secure

Researchers have been testing the existence of quantum entanglement for several years.


From ACM TechNews

­nder Cyberattack: ­h Researchers Look at How to Catch a 'phisher'

­nder Cyberattack: ­h Researchers Look at How to Catch a 'phisher'

Researchers are studying why phishing attacks are so successful in an attempt to develop the next generation of email filters.


From ACM News

The State of the Car Computer: Forget Horsepower, We Want Megahertz!

The State of the Car Computer: Forget Horsepower, We Want Megahertz!

If I asked you "how many computing devices do you own?" your mind will probably first jump to your PCs and laptops at home, and then to your smartphones and tablets.


From ACM News

China, Addicted to Bootleg Software, Reels From Ransomware Attack

China, Addicted to Bootleg Software, Reels From Ransomware Attack

China is home to the world's largest group of internet users, a thriving online technology scene and rampant software piracy that encapsulates its determination to play by its own set of digital rules.


From ACM TechNews

Tech Majority Disagrees With AI Warnings From Hawking, Musk, and Gates

Tech Majority Disagrees With AI Warnings From Hawking, Musk, and Gates

A new study demonstrates strong public and expert skepticism of warnings about artificial intelligence.


From ACM TechNews

3D-Printed 'bionic Skin' Could Give Robots the Sense of Touch

3D-Printed 'bionic Skin' Could Give Robots the Sense of Touch

Researchers have developed a new process for three-dimensionally printing stretchable electronic sensory devices that could enable robots to feel their environment.


From ACM TechNews

Artificial Intelligence Course Creates AI Teaching Assistant

Artificial Intelligence Course Creates AI Teaching Assistant

A team of researchers has developed a virtual teacher's assistant, called Jill Watson, using technologies from IBM's Watson platform.


From ACM News

Going Retro With Rube

Going Retro With Rube

Old-time machine contest fosters STEM creativity.


From ACM News

Charles Babbage Left a Computer Program in Turin in 1840. Here It Is.

Charles Babbage Left a Computer Program in Turin in 1840. Here It Is.

In autumn of 1840, Charles Babbage arrived in Turin for a meeting of Italian scientists, where he gave the only public explanation of the workings of his "Analytical Engine."


From ACM News

Seeing with Your Tongue

Seeing with Your Tongue

The climbers at Earth Treks gym, in Golden, Colorado, were warming up: stretching, strapping themselves into harnesses, and chalking their hands as they prepared to scale walls stippled with multicolored plastic holds.