Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2009
From ACM TechNews
Better Games Through Long-Distance Networking
University of Melbourne researcher Florian Mueller was awarded this year's Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship in Technology for his research into video games that combine the advantages of sports with the benefits of networked…
From ACM TechNews
Carnegie Mellon Java Tools Employ Human-Centered Design Techniques
Carnegie Mellon NewsCarnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers have developed Jadeite and Apatite, two tools designed to help programmers choose between the thousands of options available in the application programming interfaces…
From ACM TechNews
Hybrid System of Human-Machine Interaction
Florida Atlantic University (FAU) scientists have developed Virtual Partner Interaction (VPI), a hybrid system capable of examining real-time interactions between humans and machines.
The researchers say that VPI is a major …From ACM TechNews
New Exotic Material Could Revolutionize Electronics
Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have discovered that the compound bismuth telluride acts as a topological insulator, enabling electrons to flow freely…
From ACM TechNews
Neural Networks That Replicate Biological Brains
Imperial College London professor of cognitive robotics Murray Shanahan is using graphics processing technology originally developed for the gaming industry to advance artificial intelligence (AI) research. Shanahan says that…
From ACM TechNews
Synthetic Cells Get Together to Make Electronics
University of Oxford chemists, working with colleagues at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, have built a network of artificial cells that acts like an electronic device.
From ACM TechNews
Administration Plans to Scale Back Real Id Law
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano is calling on lawmakers to change the Real ID Act to make it more palatable to states. Eleven states have refused to comply with the law because they say the federal government…
From ACM TechNews
Writing on Air Is Not Pie in the Sky
Duke University engineering students have developed the PhonePoint Pen, a program that uses the accelerometers in smart phones to enable users to write messages in the air using their phone and have those messages automatically…
From ACM TechNews
Isuppli: Gear Costs to Derail Moore's Law in 2014
Market research firm ISuppli predicts Moore's Law will end after 2014 due to the high cost of chip manufacturing equipment. The market research firm expects advances in shrinking process geometries to continue after the 20- to…
From ACM TechNews
China Backpedals on Filtering Software Order
China has backed down on its mandate that all personal computers sold within its borders come with pre-installed Internet-filtering software. The software, called Green Dam Youth Escort, will still come with all PCs sold on…
From ICT Results
Spintronic
European researchers have developed novel concept devices called spintronic devices using ferromagnetic semiconductors.
From ACM TechNews
E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress
A National Security Agency (NSA) operation involving surveillance of American residents' communications, especially domestic email, is fueling debate in the U.S. Congress about its legal and logistical ramifications, with current…
From ACM News
Scientists Create Hybrid System of Human-Machine Interaction
In a groundbreaking study, scientists at FAU have created a "hybrid" system to examine real-time interactions between humans and machines (virtual partners). By pitting human against machine, they open up the possibility of exploring…
From ACM TechNews
Cheerleader For New Domain Names Defends Icann Plan
A pair of recently released reports, authored by University of Chicago professor Dennis Carlton, says that introducing new top-level domains (TLDs) will not force trademark owners to make defensive registrations to protect their…
From ACM TechNews
Tool Can Get Most Pollution Control For the Money
Purdue University professor Indrajeet Chaubey has developed a new tool that could help choose the most efficient ways to control pollution. Chaubey combined a best management practices tool with a genetic algorithm capable of…
From ACM TechNews
Ibm Marks Breakthrough in Molecular Electronics
IBM scientists have succeeded in measuring the charge state of individual atoms using non-contact atomic force microscopy, which could have a major impact on molecular electronics. The researchers were able to distinguish neutral…
From ACM TechNews
Vinton Cerf: Outer Space Could be Next Frontier for Cybersecurity
NASA and Google Internet evangelist Vinton Cerf are currently testing an extraterrestrial Internet that could lead to technology for use in securing ad hoc networks during military operations.
A decade ago, Cerf and NASA started…From ACM News
China Says npopular Filtering Software Optional
China appeared to cave in to public pressure Tuesday (June 16) by announcing that computer users are not required to install Internet-filtering software — though it will still come with all PCs sold on the mainland. A Ministry…
From ACM TechNews
Let the Search Engine Try Again
A Pennsylvania State University researcher has analyzed the way Web surfers reformulate their Web searches and believes his research could lead to improvements in the design of search engines. Professor Jim Jansen studied nearly…
From ACM TechNews
Nasa: Robots Critical to Endeavour's Mission on Space Station
The U.S. space shuttle's current mission, one of the most technical ever attempted by NASA, would not be possible without the use of robotics, says Holly Ridings, the lead space station flight director for the Endeavour mission…
From ACM TechNews
DOE Researchers Test Limits of Visualization Tool
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) researchers recently ran a series of tests to see whether the VisIt visualization application could extract scientific insight from massive datasets. Visualization researchers from Lawrence Berkeley…
From ACM TechNews
Looking Forward to the Smarter Smartphone
Cutting-edge research suggests there are major changes in store for smartphones. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Brandon Taylor and Michael Bove are building pressure sensors into phones, enabling them…
From ACM TechNews
Secret War on Web Crooks Revealed
Three times a year, leaders from the world's major technology and communications companies meet to discuss strategies for preventing the Internet from becoming overrun with attacks, spam, viruses, and hackers, though the specifics…
From ACM TechNews
New Coalition Pushes for 'Big' Broadband
A new report from the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition says that schools, libraries, and healthcare providers in the United States need broadband speeds of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps to adequately serve their…
From ACM TechNews
Five Cool Cloud Computing Research Projects
The HotCloud conference on cloud computing in San Diego will showcase a number of research projects. One such project is a Trusted Cloud Computing Platform developed by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems…
From ICT Results
The Dawn of Quantum Applications
Technologies that exploit the unique weirdness of quantum mechanics could debut in the very near future, thanks to the groundbreaking work of a huge European research consortium.
From ACM TechNews
Students to Present Computational Linguistics Research in Singapore
Elijah Mayfield from the University of Minnesota at Morris will be among the students presenting papers during the Student Workshop for the 47th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics. His paper, "Sentence…
From ACM News
China's Filtering Software is 'Poorly Designed,' Researchers Say
Anti-pornography software that China will make mandatory next month is "poorly designed" and will make personal computers vulnerable to security breaches, said university researchers. "Green Dam-Youth Escort" is a "substandard…
From ACM TechNews
Brain-Computer Interface Begins New Clinical Trial
The second clinical trial of the BrainGate Neural Interface System developed at Brown University is about to start at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. BrainGate is based on research and technology developed by…
From ACM TechNews
Computer System For Dementia Patients
The shortage of healthcare workers has led to a demand for computer-based solutions that will allow elderly people to live in the own homes. However, the technology needed to care for the elderly is expensive, and different…