Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
May 2018
From ACM News
Dark Galaxies Could Explain How Stars Are Formed
Scientists may have identified up to six "dark galaxies," a finding that could help solve the mystery of how stars and galaxies are created.
From ACM TechNews
New Tech May Make Prosthetic Hands Easier for Patients to se
Researchers have developed technology for translating neuromuscular signals into movements for prosthetic wrists and hands.
From ACM TechNews
sing Virtual Biopsies to Improve Melanoma Detection
Colorado State University's Jesse Wilson said he will use his Young Investigator Award from the Melanoma Research Alliance to further pursue non-invasive melanoma detection through virtual imaging.
From ACM TechNews
Albatross Robot Takes Flight
Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers have created an albatross-like robot that can skim along the water's surface while also surfing the waves like a sailboat.
From ACM TechNews
AI Oncologist to Help Cancer Patients Worldwide
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers devised a new way to automate the contouring of tumor volumes using artificial intelligence and deep neural networks.
From ACM News
Saving Lives with Aerial Drones
Aerial drone swarms could self-assemble into hovering rescue platforms.
From ACM News
Stealthy, Destructive Malware Infects Half a Million Routers
Home routers have become the rats to hackers' bubonic plague: An easily infected, untreated and ubiquitous population in which dangerous digital attacks can spread.
From ACM News
Drilling Success: Curiosity is Collecting Mars Rocks
Engineers working with NASA's Curiosity Mars rover have been hard at work testing a new way for the rover to drill rocks and extract powder from them.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Redesigns Enzyme
Biotechnologists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands used a computational method to convert aspartase to a catalyst for asymmetric hydroamination reactions.
From ACM TechNews
The Way Toddlers Waddle Can Teach Robot Footballers How to Play
A team of researchers has found that a team of robot football (soccer) players trained to mimic how infant humans walk can beat other robots trained on geometric walking patterns.
From ACM TechNews
How AI and IoT Smart Sensors Are Preserving a Lake Ecosystem
Researchers have deployed a network composed of platforms, weather stations, tributary monitors, and acoustic Doppler current profiles to attain information on the ecosystem of Lake George, NY.
From ACM TechNews
CLA Engineer Develops 3D Printer That Can Create Complex Biological Tissues
An engineer at the University of California, Los Angeles has developed a new three-dimensional printing method that can construct therapeutic biomaterials from multiple materials.
From ACM TechNews
'Virtual Safe Space' to Help Bumblebees
A "virtual safe space" tests the threats that face bumblebees.
From ACM TechNews
Academy to Deliver New Initiatives for Women and Girls in STEM
Australia has allocated $600,000 for the development of a roadmap for increasing engagement and participation of girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and math.
From ACM News
ACM Announces 2018 Presidential Awards
Three leaders honored for their contributions to computer ethics, education, and public policy.
From ACM News
Holograms: Are They Still the Preserve of Science Fiction?
The fragile apparition endured only long enough to say: "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope" before flickering out.
From ACM News
New Toronto Declaration Calls on Algorithms to Respect Human Rights
"In a world of machine learning systems, who will bear accountability for harming human rights?"
From ACM TechNews
Google, Microsoft Find Another Spectre, Meltdown Flaw
Intel and Microsoft on Monday reported a new variant of the Spectre and Meltdown security bugs.
From ACM TechNews
Self-Assembling 3D Battery Would Charge in Seconds
Cornell University researchers have developed an energy storage device architecture with the potential for extremely fast charges.
From ACM TechNews
Deep Learning Can Now Flawlessly Correct Photos Taken in Almost Complete Darkness
Machine learning can artificially increase the brightness of photos taken in low-light conditions.
From ACM News
AI and Emotions
What it will mean when your products know how you are feeling.
From ACM Careers
How China Acquires 'the Crown Jewels' of .S. Technology
The U.S. government was well aware of China's aggressive strategy of leveraging private investors to buy up the latest American technology when, early last year, a company called Avatar Integrated Systems showed up at a bankruptcy…
From ACM News
What Is GDPR and How Will It Affect You?
You could be forgiven for thinking that Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law created to fill your inbox with identikit warnings from every company you have ever interacted with online that "the privacy …
From ACM News
A New World's Extraordinary Orbit Points to Planet Nine
In early 2016, two planetary scientists declared that a ghost planet is hiding in the depths of the solar system, well beyond the orbit of Pluto.
From ACM TechNews
Computers Crack the Code of Pop-Song Success: It Helps to Be 'Happy' and 'Female'
University of California, Irvine researchers analyzed the properties of more than 500,000 songs released over three decades to extract the most popular ones.
From ACM TechNews
Interpol's New Software Will Recognize Criminals by Their Voices
The International Criminal Police Organization is assessing software that matches samples of speech in phone calls or social media to voice recordings in a law enforcement database.
From ACM TechNews
Artificial Intelligence Improves Stroke, Dementia Diagnoses in Brain Scans
Software developed by researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. has helped enhance stroke and dementia diagnosis.
From ACM TechNews
Making Carbon Nanotubes as sable as Common Plastics
Northwestern University's Jiaxing Huang is using a simple solvent to disperse carbon nanotubes at record concentrations without additives or volatile chemical reactions.
From ACM TechNews
First Wireless Flying Robotic Insect Takes Off
Engineers at the University of Washington have created the first wireless, insect-sized flying robot.
From ACM TechNews
Alphabet's Jigsaw Offers Political Campaigns Free DDoS Protection
Jigsaw, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, is offering U.S. political organizations a free tool to defend against distributed denial-of-device attacks.