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 News
No Secrets
Julian Assange’s mission for total transparency.
From ACM News
Stretching Single Molecules Allows Precision Studies of Interacting Electrons
With controlled stretching of molecules, Cornell researchers have demonstrated that single-molecule devices can serve as powerful new tools for fundamental science experiments.
From ACM News
Grants Support Design of ltra-Efficient 'green' Data Center
Canada's Advanced Research and Innovation Network and the Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership have awarded grants for the design of an ultra-efficient data center as part of a program to promote 'green' IT initiatives…
From ICT Results
Countering Counterfeiters
Counterfeiting is a huge problem. Luxury goods are a favorite target, but so are vital products including medications and aircraft parts. European researchers have created a new way to stem the tide.
From ACM News
Walls Falling Faster for Solid-State Memory
Researchers have found that flaws in the structure of magnetic nanoscale wires play an important role in determining the operating speed of novel devices using such nanowires to store and process information.
From ACM News
AI That Picks Stocks Better Than the Pros
A computer science professor uses textual analysis of articles from Yahoo Finance to beat the market.
From ACM News
The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In
While waiting for an elevator at the Fair Oaks Mall near her home in Virginia recently, Janice Im, who works in early-childhood development, witnessed a troubling incident between a young boy and his mother.
From ACM TechNews
Panel to Recommend Certifications for Cybersecurity Workforce
The U.S. Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency is finalizing a draft report that discusses ways to expand the U.S. government's cybersecurity workforce.
From ACM News
Cyber War: Microsoft a Weak Link in National Security
"Microsoft has vast resources, literally billions of dollars in cash, or liquid assets reserves. Microsoft is an incredibly successful empire built on the premise of market dominance with low-quality goods." Who wrote those lines…
From ACM TechNews
High-Wire Robot to Inspect the Grid
Researchers at the Electric Power Research Institute have developed a robot that can crawl along transmission lines to inspect electrical wires without the need for manned helicopter inspections.
From ACM News
'Dark Pulse Laser' Produces Bursts of . . . Almost Nothing
In an advance that sounds almost Zen, researchers at NIST and JILA, a joint institute of NIST and the University of Colorado at Boulder, have demonstrated a new type of pulsed laser that excels at not producing light.
From ACM News
Nist Helps Accelerate the Federal Government's Move to the Cloud
NIST will accelerate the U.S. government's secure adoption of cloud computing by leading efforts to develop standards and guidelines in close consultation with standards bodies, private sector, and others.
From ACM News
New Cyber Chief Outlines Strategy
Security experts said this week that they were cheered by calls from General Keith Alexander, head of the new U.S. Cyber Command, for global rules of engagement for cyber-war, and for increased engagement with nations that are…
From ACM News
How to Cope When the World Can Watch Everything You Do
In 1968, pop artist Andy Warhol declared that in the future everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes. As with many other predictions, it has not quite turned out like that. Some fear that given what technology is about to…
From ACM News
Georgia Tech Students Compete at .k. Video Game Competition
Five Georgia Tech students will be the first team from the United States to participate in Dare to Be Digital, a 10-week challenge in the United Kingdom where teams compete to create the next big video game.
From ACM News
IBM Exploring Voice-Driven Web For the Developing World
IBM Research India has launched the Spoken Web, a network designed to use phones, not computers, to bring information on the Web to mainly under-served populations.
From ACM TechNews
Virtual Privacy
Northeastern University professor Alan Mislove, whose research focuses on how people interact in the virtual world, says that many patterns of human interaction in the offline world are mirrored on social networking sites such…
From ACM TechNews
'imaginary' Interface Could Replace Real Thing
German researchers are developing Imaginary Interfaces, an interface system for mobile devices that would replace the screen and keyboard with gestures supported by visual memory.
From ACM TechNews
Nsf, Nih to Measure Federal Science Funding Impact
The U.S. National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation have launched STAR METRICS, an initiative to measure the impact of federal investment in the sciences.
From ACM TechNews
Archive Project Will Digitize Wwii Enigma Messages
British historians have launched a project to digitize messages intercepted from Germany's Enigma machine during World War II. The encrypted messages were decoded by experts at Bletchley Park.
From ACM TechNews
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Soon to Arrive in Ghana
The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE) has partnered with the EU Pascal2 Network of Excellence to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) laboratory in Ghana.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers: Poor Password Practices Hurt Security for All
University of Cambridge researchers recently completed a large study of password-protected Web sites and found that a lack of industry standards harms end-user security.
From ACM TechNews
IBM to Open Research Lab in Brazil
IBM announced that it will open a research laboratory in Brazil that will focus on developing technology systems for natural resource development and large-scale events. The lab will be IBM's ninth but its first in South America…
From ACM News
Thumbs Up For Gesture-Based Computing
Fashion crime it may be, but a multicoloured dayglo glove could bring Minority Report-style computing to your home PC.
From ACM News
Verizon Strives to Close Iphone Gap
When Steve Jobs wrapped up his announcement of the new iPhone 4, another big Apple Inc. event had come and gone with no mention of Verizon Wireless.
From ICT Results
Traffic Technology For a Cooperative Commute?
Thanks to new 'intelligent traffic' technology developed by European researchers, drivers could be in for a chattier, more cooperative commute.
From ACM News
Aiming to Boost Performance, Researchers Capture Images of Sub-Nano Pore Structures
Scientists have imaged pore structures in insulation material at sub-nanometer scale for the first time. Understanding these structures could substantially enhance computer performance and power usage of integrated circuits.
From ACM News
Scientists Strive to Replace Silicon with Graphene on Nanocircuitry
Scientists have made a breakthrough toward creating nanocircuitry on graphene.
From ACM News
China Issues White Paper on Internet Policy
The Chinese government Tuesday published a white paper on its Internet policy, stressing the guarantee of citizens' freedom of speech on the Internet and more intensive application of it.
From ACM News
Working Toward the Next Battery Breakthrough
With 140 U.S. patents on energy storage to her name, University of Buffalo Distinguished Professor Esther Takeuchi brings a fresh perspective on coaxing better performance from the nation's electrical grid.