Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2010
From ACM TechNews
New Mental-Health Apps For Iphones Like a 'therapist in Your Pocket'
Researchers are developing iPhone apps designed to alleviate the symptoms of mental illness. The apps provide advice on how to change negative affective states or ways to assist mental-healthcare providers with making psychological…
From ACM TechNews
Study Shows Inequalities in 'White-Spaces' Wireless
University of California, Berkeley researchers recently published a detailed analysis of the potential for long-distance wireless Internet connectivity using white spaces, the portion of the radio spectrum that was vacated by…
From ACM TechNews
In Debate, Audience Finds that the Cyberwar Threat Is Not Exaggerated
A panel of four leading security experts recently held a debate about the threat of cyberwarfare. The discussion emphasized that the threat is indeed very serious.
From ACM News
Kaminsky Issues Developer Tool To Kill Injection Bugs
Renowned security researcher Dan Kaminsky today went public with the launch of a new venture as well as its first deliverable--a tool for application developers that helps prevent pervasive string injection-type attacks, such…
From ACM News
New Tech Moves Beyond the Mouse, Keyboard and Screen
Goodbye computer mouse, keyboard and monitor. Say hello to a new, simpler era of human-computer interaction--this time, with no clunky hardware standing between you and digital information.
From ACM News
Oil Spill on Track to Reach Atlantic No Later Than October
Oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon site in the Gulf of Mexico will reach the Atlantic Ocean within six months, says oceanographer Synte Peacock. Exactly when is all down to an eddy that broke off of the infamous Loop Current…
From ACM News
$2.9 Million Grant To Support Innovative Approach to STEM Disciplines
Professor Ron Eglash of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has received a five-year, $2.9 million National Science Foundation research grant to support the development of "The Triple Helix" collaboration project that is dedicated…
From ICT Results
Tasty New Standards For Systems-on-Chips
European researchers have developed breakthrough standards that will let microchip designers integrate more complex circuits more easily. It will mean a faster design process, more efficient chips, and more sophisticated designs…
From ACM News
Algorithm Ranks World's Top Soccer Talent
These days, in pretty much every sport, there is no hiding from statistics. Coaches, team owners, fantasy leaguers, and fans are tracking and analyzing a player's every move, fitness level, and more.
From ACM TechNews
'email Triage' Technology Helps Manage rgent Issues on Mobiles
IBM has unveiled research on how people handle email differently when using mobile devices.
From ACM TechNews
Japan's Creepy Kid Robots Perfect Pals For Chucky
Japanese engineers have created two robots designed to interact with children and mimic human growth. Researchers say the robots could inform cognitive development and lead to better robot-human interaction.
From ACM News
Computer Intelligence Assists Study of Human Visual Attention
A computer-based model has advanced the study of change blindness, the failure of humans to detect seemingly obvious changes to scenes around them.
From ACM News
Resilient Electric Grid Project Develops the ltimate Surge Protector
The Resilient Electric Grid project is developing a current limiting high-temperature superconductor cable that could be used to link substations and help ensure that U.S. utilities can withstand power surges that cause blackouts…
From ACM News
Researchers Develop Ultra-Simple Method for Creating Nanoscale Gold Coatings
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed an ultra-simple method for making layers of gold that measure only billionths of a meter thick, which could have important implications for nanoelectronics and…
From ACM News
Cyber-War a Growing Threat Warn Experts
In 2007, Estonia was the subject of a series of cyber attacks which crippled the Internet across the country. Banks, government departments and the national media all found their websites swamped by a tidal wave of spam which…
From ACM News
Behind the Scenes of Windows Phone 7
The first Windows Phone 7 devices won't hit the market until the holidays. But in various conference rooms here on this Thursday in late May, it's already crunch time.
From ACM News
Children's Book Apps Get Curiouser and Curiouser
I prefer the old-fashioned experience of reading in the printed form, though I'm intrigued by the idea that the iPad, and eventually other tablet devices will give rise to a hybrid medium--call them book apps--that mix text with…
From ACM TechNews
Counterinsurgency Training By 'virtual Human'
USC's Institute for Creative Technologies has created virtual humans embedded with artificial intelligence algorithms and video graphics technologies to help them respond realistically to the actions and speech of real people…
From ACM TechNews
10 R&d Cybersecurity Initiatives Congress Seeks
The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, which was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate, lists 10 R&D initiatives the government would support to secure information systems and networks.
From ACM TechNews
Imec Set to Take Transistors 'sub-Threshold'
IMEC wants to use silicon transistors in the sub-threshold region as a way to achieve ultra-low power operation, and envisions a future system-on-a-chip for biomedical applications having blocks designed at 0.2 or 0.3 volts.
From ACM TechNews
Computerized Critics Could Find the Music You'll Like
University of California, San Diego artificial intelligence researcher Luke Barrington is developing software that can analyze a piece of music and compile information about it that could be useful in making a playlist.
From ACM TechNews
Get Smart: Targeting Phone Security Flaws
Data from the National Vulnerability Database shows that last year security experts identified 30 security flaws in the software and operating systems of smartphones made by Apple, Nokia, and Research in Motion, nearly twice…
From ACM TechNews
Parking on Campus a Snap With Carleton Professor's App
Carleton University computer science professor Dwight Deugo has developed iParked.ca, a system that enables users to pay for parking at campus lots with a text message.
From ACM News
How the Apple Ii Taught Programmers to Economize
Imagine trying to program a virtual machine--a software instance that mimics all the characteristics of a physical computer--on a device with 2 kilobytes of RAM.
From ACM News
Where Are All the Science Majors?
In a move to measure its workforce not too long ago, Nationwide Insurance surveyed its 36,000 employees at the time. Its CEO was in for a shock. The single largest employment category had nothing to do with insurance and was…
From ACM News
China: Our Internet Is Free Enough
China, with the most Internet users of any country in the world, has issued its first government whitepaper declaring an overall Internet strategy--one that advocates Internet growth while implicitly defending censorship policies…
From ACM News
Microbarbershop Open For Business: To Cut a Single Hair
A pea-sized microbarbershop able to cut a single hair, and the world's smallest chess board, were winners in this year's design contest for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) held at Sandia National Laboratories.
From ACM TechNews
European Research Program Targets Energy-Aware Electronics Design
Semiconductor companies are collaborating with European design centers, universities, and research institutions to develop standards and contribute to building a solid energy-aware electronics design base in Europe.
From ACM News
The Ground-Breaking Tech of 'toy Story 3'
At Pixar Animation Studios, which will release "Toy Story 3," its 11th feature film, on Friday, each new movie is an opportunity both to notch huge box office numbers and to break new ground in the technique of using computers…
From ACM News
Rock Stars Take a Look at Researcher's 3-D Technology
Producers have been contacting Iowa State University's Song Zhang to learn about his unique 3-D imaging technology, which uses simple hardware and powerful software to make real-time, high-resolution, 3-D images.