Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2017
From ACM TechNews
Self-Learning Robot Hands
Researchers at Bielefeld University in Germany have developed robot hands that can learn to grasp objects without knowing their characteristics.
From ACM TechNews
Deepmind Shows AI Has Trouble Seeing Homer Simpson's Actions
DeepMind has created a YouTube dataset of 300,000 video clips and 400 human action classes to train its deep-learning algorithms to better identify human activities and behaviors.
From ACM TechNews
How the Brain Recognizes What the Eye Sees
Salk Institute researchers have analyzed how neurons in the V2 section of the brain respond to natural scenes.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Image Quasiparticles That Could Lead to Faster Circuits, Higher Bandwidths
Researchers used spectroscopic studies to record exciton-polaritons as resonance peaks or dips in optical spectra at room temperature.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Land $3 Million to Build Cyberattack Defenses
Researchers at Clemson University are part of a team of computer experts from five universities to develop new defenses to protect data from computer hacking.
From ACM News
The Billion Dollar War Over Maps
During a test drive near Ford's Michigan headquarters, the team noticed something strange with its self-driving cars.
From ACM News
Everything We Know About Russia's Election-Hacking Playbook
Just when the cybersecurity world thinks it's found the limits of how far Russian hackers will go to meddle in foreign elections, a new clue emerges that suggests another line has been crossed.
From ACM News
Nasa Finds Evidence of Diverse Environments in Curiosity Samples
NASA scientists have found a wide diversity of minerals in the initial samples of rocks collected by the Curiosity rover in the lowermost layers of Mount Sharp on Mars, suggesting that conditions changed in the water environments…
From ACM TechNews
AI Gets So-So Grade in Chinese niversity Entrance Exam
An artificial intelligence machine completed the math section of China's annual university entrance exam faster than human students, but with a below-average grade.
From ACM TechNews
q and Partners Taking Computing Out of This World
Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia are developing next-generation computers for aerospace applications in partnership with Lockheed Martin.
From ACM TechNews
AI 'good For the World'...says Ultra-Lifelike Robot
A lifelike robot named Sophia argued at a United Nations-hosted conference in Switzerland this week that artificial intelligence is ultimately beneficial to mankind.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Cars Can't Count on S in an Emergency
Many automotive technologists are skeptical that autonomous cars will be able to trust humans in emergency situations.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Dog Has an Artificial Woof That Sounds Like the Real Thing
Researchers say they have developed a vocalization synthesizer that generates biologically fitting sounds for land mammals of any size.
From ACM News
The Mathematicians Who Want to Save Democracy
Leaning back in his chair, Jonathan Mattingly swings his legs up onto his desk, presses a key on his laptop and changes the results of the 2012 elections in North Carolina.
From ACM News
If Google Teaches an AI to Draw, Will That Help It Think?
Imagine someone told you to draw a pig and a truck.
From ACM Opinion
How Google Copes When Even It Can't Afford Enough Gear
Urs Hölzle has a big job.
From ACM TechNews
Nasa Selects Three Aeronautics Teams to Explore 'ambitious' Ideas
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration has selected three teams of researchers to pursue ideas for creating components of Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
From ACM TechNews
App Uses Smartphone Compass to Prevent Voice Hacking
Researchers at the University at Buffalo have developed a smartphone application designed to stop voice hacking.
From ACM TechNews
Robots Will Be More seful If They Are Made to Lack Confidence
University of California, Berkeley researchers are developing an artificial intelligence system that seeks and accepts human oversight.
From ACM TechNews
Computer-Aided Imaging Technique Could Reduce Risk of Second Breast Cancer Surgery
A new computer-aided diagnostic technique combines imaging with artificial intelligence to detect the difference between cancerous and benign cells.
From ACM News
A Stepping Stone to Stem?
Engineering technology courses at community colleges are serving as a pathway to STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) degrees and jobs.
From ACM Careers
Chinese Exam Authorities se Facial Recognition, Drones to Catch Cheats
Chinese education authorities have gone high-tech to catch cheaters as millions of high-school students take their "gaokao", the annual university entrance exam seen as key to landing a lucrative white-collar job.
From ACM News
Hubble Sees Light Bending Around Nearby Star
The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted light bending because of the gravity of a nearby white dwarf star—the first time astronomers have seen this type of distortion around a star other than the Sun. The finding once again confirms…
From ACM News
Why Printers Add Secret Tracking Dots
On 3 June, FBI agents arrived at the house of government contractor Reality Leigh Winner in Augusta, Georgia.
From ACM TechNews
Cybersecurity Researchers Claim Every Network Router at Risk of Secretly Leaking Data
Researchers have demonstrated a method for stealing information by exploiting a network router's light-emitting diodes.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Use AI to Dramatically Increase Image Clarity Under Severe Conditions
Researchers in Japan have developed technology that uses artificial intelligence to derive greater image visibility from devices such as thermal and x-ray cameras.
From ACM TechNews
Why So Few Women Break Through Tech's Bro Culture
Despite the technology industry's attempts to achieve gender equality, the sector suffers from chronic underrepresentation of women.
From ACM TechNews
Engineer Unveils New Spin on Future of Transistors With Novel Design
Researchers have developed a computing system made exclusively from carbon which they think could replace the silicon transistor.
From ACM TechNews
Catching the Imsi-Catchers: Seaglass Brings Transparency to Cell Phone Surveillance
The SeaGlass system can spot cellular network anomalies that may signal where and when International Mobile Subscriber Identity-catchers are being used to pinpoint mobile phones, monitor conversations, or send spam.
From ACM TechNews
Natural Language Processing and Affective Computing
Natural-language processing uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to comprehend unstructured text and context.