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
Spying on a Storm's Infrasonic Signals to Improve Tornado Warnings
Tornado survivors often compare the terrifying, deafening roars of a twister's furious winds to the sound of a freight train. But storms also emit sounds that are inaudible to human ears right before producing a tornado.
From ACM TechNews
How the Father of Computer Science Decoded Nature's Mysterious Patterns
Mathematician and cryptologist Alan Turing was also a naturalist who used math to explain patterns in nature.
From ACM TechNews
Navigation System Helps Autonomous Cars Tackle Country Roads
MapLite is a navigation system that helps autonomous vehicles drive on previously unencountered roadways.
From ACM TechNews
Brain Drain: Many Canadian Science, Tech Grads Heading to .S. for Work
Canada's loss of technology and innovation talent to the U.S. has surpassed levels previously identified as harmful to economic expansion.
From ACM TechNews
Flying Beetle Cyborgs Guided With Tiny Battery-Powered Backpacks
Researchers in Singapore have developed cyborg flying beetles.
From ACM TechNews
An AI for Deciphering What Animals Do All Day
Columbia University researchers have demonstrated how an algorithm for filtering spam can parse hours of video footage to reveal the behaviors of Hydra.
From ACM News
The Milky Way's Speediest Stars Could Solve a 50-Year-Old Mystery
Ken Shen was racing against the sun.
From ACM News
Particle Physicists Turn to AI to Cope with CERN's Collision Deluge
Physicists at the world's leading atom smasher are calling for help. In the next decade, they plan to produce up to 20 times more particle collisions in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) than they do now, but current detector systems…
From ACM News
Sessions: Congress May Need to 'Take Action' on Encryption
Attorney General Jeff Sessions indicated in a Monday speech that Congress may ultimately have to wade into the debate about federal law enforcement agencies unlocking encrypted devices that are tied to ongoing investigations.
…From ACM News
White House Will Host AI Summit
The White House plans to convene executives from Amazon, Facebook, Google, Intel, and 34 other major U.S. companies as it seeks to supercharge the deployment of powerful robots, algorithms, and the broader field of artificial…
From ACM TechNews
Custom Silicon Microparticles Dynamically Reconfigure on Demand
Researchers have demonstrated custom semiconductor microparticles that can be manipulated into various configurations repeatedly while suspended in water.
From ACM TechNews
Man vs. Machine?
Deep learning computers in Case Western Reserve University's diagnostic imaging laboratory routinely outperform humans in diagnosing heart failure and detecting cancer.
From ACM News
Are Human Brains Quantum Computers?
Research project could explain how memory, and the brain's biology, works.
From ACM News
R and Python are Joining Forces, in The Most Ambitious Crossover Event of the Year—for Programmers
From ACM News
Driverless Car Startup Drive.ai Launching Ride-hailing Service in Texas
From day one, Drive.ai has positioned itself as the driverless car company that thinks most about human-technology interactions.
From ACM News
How the Father of Computer Science Decoded Nature's Mysterious Patterns
Many have heard of Alan Turing, the mathematician and logician who invented modern computing in 1935.
From ACM News
Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressuring Local niversities
At a conference in Silicon Valley this week, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, vowed that his company would "keep building" despite a swirl of questions around the way it has dealt with misinformation and the personal…
From ACM News
The 15 People Who Keep Wikipedia's Editors From Killing Each Other
Wikipedia editors got locked in a dispute several months ago about the biographical summary boxes that sit atop some pages of the online encyclopedia. The tiff quickly turned heated.
From ACM TechNews
A Surprising New Superconductor
Researchers have developed a process for producing an ultrathin layer of rhenium sandwiched between gold layers that can superconduct at temperatures higher than 6 degrees Kelvin.
From ACM TechNews
Mining for Gold With a Computer
Engineers from Texas A&M University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University used image-analysis software to gain new insights into nanoporous gold.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Scientists Find the Longest Straight Line You Could Sail Without Hitting Land
A new algorithm can calculate the longest straight-line path around the world on land or sea.
From ACM TechNews
Gait Assessed With Body-Worn Sensors May Help Detect Alzheimer's
A recent pilot study at the University of Newcastle recently demonstrated that low-cost wearable devices could improve clinical trial efficiency.
From ACM TechNews
Data Science Team Receives ACM Software Prize
ACM is recognizing an international team of researchers with the 2018 Software System Award for Project Jupyter.
From ACM TechNews
Could Robots Be Counselors? Early Research Shows Positive ser Experience
Researchers have demonstrated that a humanoid social robot can deliver a positive motivational interview.
From ACM News
JPMorgan Taps Carnegie Mellon Professor for New AI Role
Manuela Veloso will build on the U.S. bank's existing work applying machine learning technology.
From ACM News
Water Filter Inspired by Alan Turing Passes First Test
Researchers in China have developed a filter that removes salt from water up to three times as fast as conventional filters. The membrane has a unique nanostructure of tubular strands, inspired by the mathematical-biology work…
From ACM News
Tech Giants Hit by NSA Spying Slam Encryption Backdoors
A coalition of Silicon Valley tech giants has doubled down on its criticism of encryption backdoors following a proposal that would give law enforcement access to locked and encrypted devices.
From ACM TechNews
'Smart' Dresser Prototype Guides People With Dementia in Getting Dressed
Researchers have created an intelligent dressing system that integrates automated tracking and recognition with guided assistance.
From ACM TechNews
AI To Help Soldiers Learn Faster in Combat
A low-cost, lightweight hardware system can help soldiers learn more than 13 times faster than conventional methods.
From ACM TechNews
Smart Skin for Flexible Monitoring
Marine Skin is a new smart patch that could be used to electronically tag marine animals.